Quick update from Dad ...

We are proud to introduce our baby Tyler!
Born at 1/26/06, 9:01 AM
6 lbs 15 oz, 20 1/2"

I will let Cathy go through all the details, but I thought all of you might like a quick update and picture. Thanks to all of you who followed Cathy's blog throughout her pregnancy and provided support. I know it really meant a lot to her. Good luck to all of you in your upcoming deliveries.

-Mike

37 Weeks

January 24, 2006

I've hit the 37 week mark! I had my final doctor's appointment yesterday, where my doctor told us everything looked pretty good. My blood pressure is still high, but not higher than at my last appointment. My 24-hour urine sample actually came back negative for protein content, and all the swelling in my legs/ankles/feet has gone away since I've been on bedrest. However, doctor still thinks that if I carry the baby for 40 weeks that I will eventually develop pre-eclampsia, so she still wants to induce me tomorrow. So, Mike and I are headed to the hospital this afternoon to check in and get cervidil applied (to soften my cervix and hopefully help it dilate). I'm supposed to have it in for 12 hours, and tomorrow morning they'll remove the cervidil and start me on pitosin (to start contractions)! This is definitely NOT the way I imagined having a baby, especially since induction has a higher rate of c-sections, but I really trust my doctor and if she believes that this is the best way for me and the baby then that's what we're going to do.

So, hopefully by the end of the day tomorrow, Mike and I will be new parents :) We're so looking forward to meeting our little son...so exciting!!!!

36 Weeks and 3 days

January 20, 2006

Check out these beautiful pictures we had taken last weekend (while I was still on modified "rest," before I was on strict bedrest)!

I'm showing them on this weblog because I want to advertise the company. They're two great women who specialize in maternity and family photos, but also do children and some on-location events. I guess they're based mostly out of Virginia. They're called Saga Photos and their website is: www.sagaphotos.com. The example photographs they have on their website are beautiful!

Yesterday morning I had another doctor's appointment...they checked my blood pressure and it's gone down!! Not a huge amount, but down nonetheless :) I turned in my 24-hour urine sample...SO glad to be done with that! I won't find out what the protein content is until my next appointment on Monday. We did another NST, and that came out fine, also. The plan is to still be induced on Wednesday, January 25th!

Strict Bedrest

January 16, 2006

Well, I had another doctor's appointment this morning. They did another ultrasound and took some of our baby's measurements. They estimate that he's 6 pounds 9 ounces already! He's also DEFINITELY head-down, but he's facing out (towards my bellybutton). After the ultrasound, they set me up for a non-stress test (NST). Normally, they want to see 3 movements within 30 minutes, and our little guy moved 8 or 9 times, so our doctor was very pleased with that! After the NST, our doctor checked my blood pressure and cervix. My BP was still high (146/100) and my cervix was still closed. My blood tests from my last appointment came out normal, but I did have elevated levels of uric acid in my blood (normal levels are 3-4 mg/dL, and mine was 6.7 mg/dL).

My doctor said that I don't have pre-eclampsia, but she thinks that if I carry the baby to 40 weeks, I could eventually develop pre-eclampsia. So, she put me on strict bedrest (only getting up to shower, go to the bathroom, or get a snack...no cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.) for the next week and she wants to induce me on Wednsday, January 25th! However, even though all my urine tests have not detected any protein, my doctor thinks that a 24-hour urine test WILL show that I have protein in my urine. She gave me a jug that I have to collect all my urine in over a 24-hour period (beginning this Wednesday morning and ending Thursday morning, right before my next appointment). I will be 37 weeks along on Tuesday, the 24th, and she wants me to check in the hospital that night, when they will apply some cream to my cervix that should help with dilation. Now, if they do detect protein in my urine, I don't know what's going to happen. I suspect that they'll put me on hospital bedrest until I'm 37 weeks...which will suck :( I can handle the bedrest at home, but in the hospital will be so boring! And Mike is only allowed 2 weeks off of work, so I don't want him to waste any of those days just keeping me company in the hospital.

Anyway, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's no protein in my urine...mmm...can't wait to start that!

At Home

January 13, 2006

Well, I went to my doctor for a follow-up exam yesterday morning. There, she decided to check my cervix and take samples for the GBS (Group B Streptococcus) test. The first thing my doctor did was take my blood pressure...very high: 140/100! My cervix was dilated 0.5 cm (not a big deal) and the baby's head is down and low in my pelvis...also very good. The swelling in my feet had gone down from the previous appointment, but because of my high blood pressure, my doctor told me she didn't want me to go back to work. She said that she wanted me to stay home and rest with my feet up. I can get up and walk around to make myeslf food, go to the bathroom, shower, etc., and if I need to go to the grocery store then Mike has to take me and it has to be a quick trip. Otherwise, I can't exercise, be on my feet for long periods of time, or clean the house. So, here I am parked on the couch :)

I went to work after my appointment yesterday, to let everyone know that I would have to go home, and to attend the baby shower my co-workers threw for me :) It's really nice to work in an environment that realizes the importance of families! Everyone at work has been so supportive, and the shower was the icing on the cake! I am planning to do some work from home, and go into work once a week to meet with my supervisor and turn in work.

One thing that I was talking to someone at work about that I wasn't really prepared for is how things can drastically change in the last month of pregnancy. I don't know if it was because my blood pressure was high, but at my last appointment my doctor was very serious and firm (not at all with her usual relaxed and laid-back attitude). She didn't come across as worried, but the fact that she told me not to return to work (and had the lab draw blood for testing) made ME start worrying. I guess this is a critical time period in pregnancy...the baby is taking more of a toll on your body than before, and your body isn't working as efficiently.

Anyway, I have another appointment on Monday morning. They're going to perform an ultrasound to check the true position of the baby and also do the non-stress test. Mike wasn't able to come with me to my last appointment (we both thought it would be a quick follow-up, and not a big deal since my swelling had gone down). He was upset that he didn't end up coming with me, but I think it was the first one he's missed during my entire pregnancy. He'll be able to come to my Monday appointment :)

35 Weeks

January 11, 2005 - 35 Weeks and 1 day

On Monday night, my ankles and feet were very swollen. More than they have been in the past few weeks. So, I freaked out a little (and got Mike a little freaked out, too) and we went to see one of the available midwives in my doctor's office. She took my blood pressure, and it was a little higher than normal (132/80). She told me I needed to drink a LOT of water every day. "How much?" Mike asked. She said,"One gallon every day." ONE GALLON??!?! Are you freaking kidding me? Okay, its for the baby. I tried...seriously. I drank 1/2 a gallon of water at work today. It was really hard, because I never drank the required 8 glasses per day in the first place. But I'm on my 3rd quart right now and I'm really going to try to drink enough water until our baby's born :) I have another appointment tomorrow morning with my normal doctor to re-check my blood pressure and the swelling in my legs.

On a lighter note...my sister threw me and Mike a baby shower on Saturday. We had it at our house, with lots of good food and everyone hanging out through the night! TONS of fun! Mike's friends gave us (well, they got it for Mike, really) a really funny book called The Baby Owner's Manual. I highly recommend it...especially for the men :)

Yesterday, I also started packing my hospital bag. As I was gathering a suitcase, the diaper bag, and another bag for extras, Mike pulls out a stack of paper about 1/2 an inch thick...all with various lists of suggested items to bring in a hospital bag. He searched the internet for suggestions and printed every single one out! How cool is that? So, I think we've got everything covered. I washed some of the baby clothes and blankets and got so excited. This is really going to happen! I folded the little baby socks, and the onesie that Mike made (he put a "VT" for Virginia Tech on it!), the receiving blankets, a little going-home outfit for our baby, and then put some extra newborn diapers in the diaper bag. Wow. I can't wait to put those clothes on our baby. I just can't wait to hold him and kiss him and snuggle with him. I think Mike was thinking the same thing, because he shaved his goatee off tonight!

So, check out our crib...we hung the quilt on the wall and installed the mobile that my sister and her husband gave us at the shower. The giraffe in the crib is one we made for Tyler at Build-A-Bear, who we named George :) George's "birth certificate" says "From Mommy and Daddy"! We figured George would go well with the Noah's Ark theme :)

Tagged :)

January 9, 2005

I've been "tagged" by Avorie (at ReDinkyDink)! I don't know who else to tag, but the questions are fun, so here are my answers:

Four jobs I've had in my life: environmental engineer, project engineer, soils lab technician, and coffee house barista

Four movies I could watch over and over: "O Brother, Where Art Thou?", "Office Space", "The Princess Bride", and "Bridget Jones' Diary"

Four places I've lived: Manila (Philippines), and all around Virginia

Four TV shows I love to watch: Lost, The Office, My Name is Earl, ER

Four places I've been on vacation: Nags Head, NC; Gatlinburg, TN; Toronto, Canada; and a cruise in the Western Caribbean (I swear, I could live in the Grand Cayman Islands!)

Four websites I visit daily: Google, Gmail, other pregnancy weblogs, MSN

Four of my favorite foods: Greek spaghetti, ice cream (well, all desserts really!), Minute Maid orange juice, and gorgonzola topped Schiacciatta bread from Our Daily Bread Bakery in Blacksburg, VA.

Four places I'd rather be: anywhere with Mike, the Grand Cayman Islands, and I would love to vacation in a fun wintery climate in a log cabin

Four albums I can't live without: I don't have any album preferences, but my favorite artists are the Counting Crows, the Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler, and the Barenaked Ladies

That was fun! Thanks Avorie :)

Nursery

January 5, 2005

I am so excited about the nursery, now! I wasn't before because we hadn't done much with it, but we're finally getting things together! Like I said before, Mike painted the room over the weekend, and our theme is Noah's Ark...this is our crib bedding:

and we plan to hang the quilt on the wall along with some great prints I found on www.art.com! Since the Noah's Ark theme is all about animals, Mike and I picked out a few fun prints of animal paintings:

Aren't they all adorable?!?! I had a few others picked out that were photographs of animal couples together, but we ulimately agreed that the prints of the paintings looked more like they belonged in a nursery. Now I need to work on organizing the closet in our baby's room...I want to install a closet system that will be kid-friendly, and maybe put some colorful drawers or storage boxes in there. Speaking of which, I need to do the same thing to my own closet, and probably to Mike's closet, too! Let the nesting phase continue!

January 9, 2005 - Update: By the way, the crib bedding is called "Noah's Patch" by NoJo :)

34 Weeks

January 4, 2006

Happy New Year!! I actually typed "2005" in the date, and then realized it's 2006! Which reminds me, I think I did that in a letter at work yesterday, too...

So, 34 weeks and I'm definitely coming down with another cold. This will be my second one since I've been pregnant. Normally, I don't mind colds so much because I just take Dayquil during the day and Nyquil at night...BUT I can't really take anything anymore, so now I'm just blowing my nose every 20 minutes! I did take some Children's Tylenol cold medicine the other day, but I didn't feel like it did anything, so I haven't taken any since.

Over the weekend, Mike and I finally picked out a color for the baby's room! I think it will go well with the bedding we bought. The color is called Bother Free Blue, and it's part of Behr Paint's Disney Wall Colors Winnie the Pooh collection. Mike painted the baby's room on Monday, with kind help from his brother! Surprisingly, just painting the room already makes it look like a nursery!

We also took down our Christmas tree and all the decorations on Monday evening. My sister is throwing us a co-ed baby shower on Saturday at our house, since it's located between my family and Mike's family. The Christmas tree was taking up a lot of room in the living room, so we just put away all the other Christmas decorations when we took down the tree. It's so sad to put them away after the holidays...but this year we definitely have other things to look forward to! I'm really excited about having everyone over for the shower, because some of my family hasn't seen our house yet!

Volleyball season started up again this week, and Mike played with his men's team last night. Even though I'm feeling pretty tired and stuffy, I still wished I could play! I was going to go watch his games, but figured that staying home and resting would probably be better for me.

I had my 34 week checkup this afternoon...my belly measures exactly 34 cm! And I've gained 1 pound per week for the past month, which is putting me on track for a total weight gain of 30 pounds during my pregnancy. That's pretty reasonable, even though I would have liked to gain less (more to lose in the future!). Mike says it's okay, because that means our baby is growing strong :) I'm so glad he's been as supportive as he has. During my entire pregnancy, he's shown concern and been very encouraging! Sometimes the concern could have been mistaken for paranoia, but it IS our first child, so maybe that's to be expected. (Still, I would like to buy an elliptical machine after the baby's born to try to work off some baby weight and get back into shape!)