The pedicure that never happened: Cayden's birth story

Hi, all. We're home and tired, but doing well. Just wanted to take a few minutes while baby boy is sleeping to share his birth story...

First of all, Tuesday morning I was still 80 percent effaced and maybe 2 cm dilated at my appointment with Amy. She again said she was "really moving things around" in hopes of jump starting some action.

But I felt no different most of the day, except for some slight cramping I attributed to the internal. Later that mornning I talked to Jess and decided that since all was wrapped up at work, I'd take part of the afternoon off to enjoy a pedi with her. So I planned

...ok, typing with one hand now, as Cayden snacks...

to leave work at 1:30, after a meeting. Got out of work a bit later than planned,

...nevermind, too sleepy to eat...

after saying goodbyes to most of the ladies at the office. Headed to Jess's around 1:50, spent some time chatting with Rose & Granny and watching Max before I peed and we headed out to Hershey Nails.

As I park the car and move to get out, I feel this odd subtle popping feeling in my lower-left abdomen, and as I get out of the car fluid soaks my pants and starts running down my leg. 2:53 p.m. Completely bewildered, I tell Jess the pedi may be off, and waddle into the nail salon to use the bathroom. Yup, I can't stop leaking. So we walk right back out of the salon, where all the employees and clients are now watching us with dropped jaws, and back to the car.

At which point I call Brian, who had just sat down in the barber's chair at the Colonial Park Mall. His response to the news that I think my water just broke? "Hun, it's really hot out, are you sure it's not sweat?" Yeah, I was sure. But we think we have plenty of time, so I tell Brian to finish getting his haircut and then stop home to pick up a few last things. (Of course I had taken the camera & camcorder OUT of the hospital bag Tuesday morning to plug them in at home so they were fully charged for Wednesday morning)

I thought I would just drive home and wait for Brian to meet me there after his hair cut, but Jess wouldn't allow it. Thank god. She jumped in the driver's seat of my car while I grabbed the waterproof absorbant pad from Spike's cat carrier and put it on the passenger's seat. So not like me to have left his cage in the car for two weeks after his appointment, but his pee towel sure saved the seat of the Rav4.

So Jess starts heading towards our house and the hospital (choosing a route a little more direct to the hospital) as I call the doc. Period-like cramps are sudddenly coming every four minutes. Doc says go to the hospital, so that's where we head. Park in the garage, and for the entire eons long walk from the hospital to labor & delivery, I'm still leaking. A lot. At one point I slipped out of my flip flop. Which made me laugh, which made me gush more. Thank God for having decided to wear black pants to work that day. Finally get up to the third floor, and Jess leads the way to check me into L&D. (She's done all of this a few times before; I couldn't have asked for a better take-charge expert in this situation) Get into a room and wait for Brian. 3:25 p.m.

Brian gets a free haircut out of the experience, as Cory & Cameron have been his barbers for over a decade. Apparently the four barbers and the four other clients in the shop were pretty excited, too. Mental note: stop in there some time in the next few weeks to meet the guys and introduce Cayden.

Still two centimeters at the first exam by the Hershey docs, when they confirm my membranes spontaneously ruptured and I was staying until we had a baby, either Tuesday or Wednesday. (I don't remember any of their names or who was a student, resident or attending; there were a slew of them. But interestingly enough, they were all female and all 30 years old or younger. I hope I didn't insult any of them when I commented as such.) But the contractions were coming closer together and were starting to get tough.

Brian shows up, and shortly after Jess left. At some point way more quickly than I thought it would happen, contractions became one minute apart and are WAAAAY tougher than I imagined. Tried standing, squatting, sitting, leaning, breathing and just about everything to cope with them, but each one exhausted and scared me even more. And the wires drove me NUTS! It was nearly impossible to move around and try to find a position that eased the pain a little, because everytime I moved I was yanking on a cord. The blood pressure cuff cord, the cord to the belt monitoring contractions, the cord to the thingie monitoring Cayden's heartbeat and eventually my IV cord.

So I make the best decision I could have, and opt for the epidural. Tried it my way without pain meds, and it didn't work. So bring on the drugs. Problem was, there was an emergency c-section and another delivery going on, and my IV line hadn't even been put in, yet. Eventually I get the IV, get a bag of fluid down, and the anesthesiologists finish up with the other procedures. That was a LOOOOOOONG, HAAAAAAARD wait.

At 5:25 p.m. I've progressed to 5 cm, and at 5:55 p.m. I am unbelievably happy to suddenly be pain free. Turns out the docs gave me a spinal/epi combo, which immediately relieved the ridiculously painful, intense and right-on-top-of-each-other contractions while the epi had a chance to start working. And once the drugs were in, family was welcome back into the room. I did have one spot low on my left side that the pain meds didn't reach, but I was happy to manage that pain instead of what I felt before.

Epi did make the contractions more sporadic, but they didn't delay labor for me. Time seemed to fly by, and suddenly at 7:45 p.m. the doc announced I was fully dilated and at +2 station. She had me get up onto all fours to help raise Cayden's heartbeat a little, and while I was up there, Brian -- dumbfounded at the news of full dilation, since the nurses told us to expect to progress 1 cm per hour -- asked "so what does that mean?" Docs said it means the baby is ready to come out and we're going to start pushing, so Brian texted the crowd in the waiting room.

Did the first series of pushes with the doc at 7:48, then pushed just with the nurse and Brian for three or so times, as Cayden made his way further down. After just a few minutes the nurse called the docs back in and paged the NICU docs. Turns out Cayden passed some meconium (first poop) in utero, so the NICU docs would have to take him right over to the exam table to get the dangerous stuff out of his airways. Once the team is all assembled -- six to eight strong, at this point -- we start pushing again. I couldn't really feel the contractions so much as pressure from his head when a contraction would start, so that's what I used to let me know when to push. I can't remember how many series of pushes we did (each four pushes long, rather than three, since they thought he would move fast and I wasn't too tired to do the extra push), but Brian saw all 8 lbs, 4.6 oz of Cayden squirt out at 8:31 p.m. I didn't feel anything, but I saw and heard him.

He ended up crying as soon as he popped out (what they were hoping he would NOT do, because of the meconium), but the NICU docs only had to do a little suctioning and said he was fine. APGARS were 9 and 9, even with the mec.

Docs then worked on my two minor tears (I had no idea and couldn't feel the two stitches) and started working on getting the placenta out. That was harder than the delivery itself. Took almost 40 minutes and a lot of massaging, tugging and pushing to get that bugger out, but they're confident it all passed.

Finally, I got to hold Cayden and he took right to the boob. Family came in to meet him, and we got the first pics Aunt Nicole was so gracious to post earlier this week.

Grandude Stackhouse grabbed a newspaper as a keepsake, and I took note on my way to my doc's appointment the morning of the 28th that gas was $2.45 a gallon at Rutters. Meant to price a gallon of milk, but completely forgot.

So that's the story of how Cayden William picked his birthday after all, and gave mom an absolutely wonderful 5.5 hour labor and delivery experience.

First Full Day in the Hospital

Cayden's first day saw LOTS of visitors...Cayden, being the seemingly easy-going baby that he is, did quite well being passed from family member to family member.

A shot with dad...



A shot with Aunt Nicole (as the current poster of this blog, I couldn't resist!)



Two short video clips...

A Few Videos

This is a video of the new dad, letting the family know that Cayden is FINALLY here, after nine long months of anticipation!




Here is a shot of the family, as Liz explains a little of the experience!

Cayden William Brassell

Baby Cayden was born on July 28th, at 8:31pm. He weighed 8 pounds, 4.6 ounces and measured in at 22 inches! He was greeted by grandmas, grandpas, great-grandma, and an aunt and uncle, all who will undoubtedly spoil him from this moment on!

Last full day pregnant??

Assuming all goes well, this should be my last wake-through-sleep pregnant, at least for a few years. Already today I've done the "where will we be and what will we be doing 24 hours from now" game half a dozen times, and I've only been awake for an hour. This one may be a long day.

But I think I've decided to split the difference (Brian says take off; I was planning to work as usual) and take the afternoon off work. Jess has offered to take me to her salon for a pedicure, and depending what time I get out of the office, we may do lunch, too.

I think it's a good compromise. Gives me a few hours to tie up any loose ends at work (there are very few to none at this point, considering I thought I'd be outta there a week ago), switch over my phones and e-mail and say a few last goodbyes and thank yous. Then I can pamper myself for a couple of hours and try to get to bed early tonight, a good idea considering it will likely be my last full night of sleep for months and we have to be up around 4:30 a.m. tomorrow.

But for now, I've got to finish getting dressed, give Spike his pill and head out to my last prenatal appointment with Amy...

No I haven't had the baby, yes I'm still here.

I'm debating making a sign that says as much and taping it to my office door tomorrow. Because I'm kind of dreading another round of questions and inquisitive looks at work. Brian is trying to convince me to make tomorrow my last day at work, but I don't see the point in sitting home Tuesday, going stir crazy.

Tried just about every labor-inducing trick in the book this weekend (except castor oil; Brian's research on that one scared him a little), to no avail. Did lose more mucous plug Thursday and Friday, and I think I finally identified some Braxton Hicks Saturday night at the Grantville carnival. But no signs that anything is moving anytime soon.

Friday night saw a mini-meltdown and a lot of frustrated tears. Turns out watching shows about babies and birth experiences is not a great idea for someone who wants nothing more than to meet her own baby.

Look folks, I'm just as surprised and increasingly disappointed not to have a baby by now. I know everyone means well, but the same question wares on me after time, ya know?

Two more days. Two more days. Two more days...

Of course induction is complicated; why would I have assumed any differently?

Sigh. After a little research over the past couple of days, I'm no longer so keen on the idea of medical induction.

In my excited naivete, I just assumed Wednesday's induction would be a quick and easy jump-start to the labor process. And it very well may be.

Or not.

Turns out there's a lot of debate over pitocin inductions, the kind we're talking about for Wednesday. Most alarming for me are two things: (1) Pitocin often makes contractions much more intense and painful than they may have been without the synthetic hormone, and laboring through without an epidural is much less likely following a pitocin induction. (2) The rate of emergency c-section is dramatically higher for medically induced labor (because of fetal distress the intense/fast contractions can cause), as compared to labor that begins and progresses without pitocin.

Gulp.

So I'll spend much of this weekend practicing all the tricks I can to try to induce labor naturally. Found a new one, today, too: acupressure.

Hopefully I'm worked up over something I won't have to worry about after all.

Eviction Notice

Dear Baby Cayden,

Now that you are officially overdue, it's appropriate to notify you your time in utero is limited.

I'd prefer you come naturally in your own time (dad prefers you come immediately), but you must vacate the premises within six days. Otherwise, per the eviction notice below, we'll have to take matters into our own hands.

Eagerly awaiting your arrival,

Mama

Drumroll, please...

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Since it doesn't look like the due date will be a birthday,
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and since we came to a compromise decision,
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and since maybe he's just waiting on a name before he makes his debut
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Brian's favorite name was Braydon and mine was Caelan, so late last week we started mulling over a Cayden William as a compromise. Turns out the Welsh name means little fighter and spirit of battle, and we both really like that. So last night I got crafty and we sealed the deal.

OK, Cayden, now your room is completely done and ready for you!

Happy Due Date to Me

40 weeks.

40-week growth ultrasound

Well, he must be packed in there pretty tight -- ALL EIGHT POUNDS OF HIM!

Yup, the Med Center's best guess is that he's 8 pounds, give or take 19 ounces. So that means he's almost surely somewhere between 7 and 9 pounds.

And he seems to be doing fine in his cramped quarters: heartbeat was 129 beats per minute, and all his parts passed inspection.

Well, almost. It was difficult to get a picture of his face because his head is so far down, but the ultrasound tech did catch his profile. We saw him move his tongue and purse his lips. His seemingly very big lips. I mean as soon as the ultrasound tech left the room we both turned to each other and said "did you see how big his lips are?" I turned this image on its side so you can see the profile without craning your neck. He's looking to the left. The white stripe across the middle is his tongue.

So in the past week we've seen a really chubby chin, fat cheeks and now surprisingly big lips. Granted, his face is all smooshed down there so he may end up looking cute and proportional, but at this point I'm not banking on any newborn modeling gigs for baby boy. But we'll love him nonetheless.

One dejected daddy

Just got home from my 40-week appointment. Yes, home; not back at work. Because there's no sense running into work for 45 minutes just to run back home, pick up Brian and head to the hospital for our 11:20 ultrasound.

First, the standard details: 1/2 pound weight gain from last week, BP of 102/66 and a strong heartbeat. In fact, Amy let Brian do the dopplar, so he found the heartbeat.

But the fundal height is still low (37 cm), so Amy decided it's best to schedule one more growth ultrasound at the Med Center. No reason for worry, rather she just wants to make sure he's packed away in the back of my torso, rather than not growing as he should.

Oh, and I've made no progress from last week with regard to any further cervical dilation or effacement. Still at 1 cm and 80 percent.

So assuming everything looks good at this morning's ultrasound, we have induction scheduled for 6 a.m. on Wednesday, July 29. Which really disappointed Brian. I misunderstood Amy last week when she said they won't let me go beyond 41 weeks. I thought she meant they won't let me go beyond July 29, the day I hit 41 weeks, when really she meant they won't let me go beyond August 4, which would be the last day of my 41st week.

So I kinda sorta may have led Brian to believe we could possibly schedule induction for later this week. But we learned this morning that we can't, and now he's beside himself because the anticipation is likely going to kill him for another week. I've never seen him so dejected. And if I do get induced next Wednesday, it looks next to impossible for Brian to attend his college friend's wedding in northeast PA on Saturday, Aug. 1.

So for now, we just keep waiting.......

Vaccinations: a decision just in the nick of time

Nothing like waiting until the last minute, right? Well, I didn't mean to, but everything else just seemed to get in the way recently, so it wasn't until Saturday that I FINALLY got around to analyzing tons of vaccine information to make a somewhat informed decision about how we want to proceed with shots for baby boy.

I'm sure many of you may be wondering, "what do you mean, 'how we want to proceed'? Don't the doctors decide that?" Well, as I've discovered, yes and no.

This project all started weeks ago, after our make-up childbirth class, during which nurse Saudia clarified that the Hepatitis B shot is not mandatory at birth at Hershey. However, it is standard, so we were encouraged to speak up if we wanted to opt out. Suddenly aware that there must be two sides to this issue (after all, why would some people opt out, if they didn't have good reasons?), I began casually exploring the debate over vaccinations.

And honestly, my initial reaction was that those who objected to vaccinations or developed an "alternative" vaccination schedule were a bunch of granolas with over-inflated senses of self. After all, the vaccination schedule recommended by the CDC and the PA Dept. of Health are promoted by doctors -- medical experts who went to school for a lot of years to develop a wealth of knowledge on this topic that far exceeds anything a concerned parent could learn from a couple of books, right?

As I've discovered (again): yes and no.

After making my way through Dr. Sears' The Vaccine Book, a well-balanced and detailed review of all of today's childhood vaccinations and the diseases they address, Saturday I sat down with my heavily dog-eared book, a couple of articles on the current state of vaccines (my version of the book was from 2007), a copy of the section of the PA Code outlining vaccination requirements for entry into school, a friend’s alternate vaccination schedule and the CDC/PA Dept. of Health recommended vaccine schedule. FOUR HOURS LATER, I had a plan! Or at least a proposed vaccination plan to discuss with Dr. Baker when we meet him.

The exercise was one big puzzle. In fact, it reminded me a whole lot of my old CDEEP days, when we'd sit around doing grid puzzles. We were given a scenario and a number of elements to the scenario, and we had to piece the clues together to figure out the one answer to the puzzle that made everything fall into place where it fit.

Well, in this case there are endless possibilities for "right answers," but I think I made a plan that fits everything together in a way that will work best for us.

My goals (boiled down to the simplest form) were as such: let baby boy's immune system develop for a couple of months before he starts getting shots; avoid potentially risky combinations of shots; immunize baby boy first for the diseases that could prove most dangerous during infancy, then address other vaccinations later; get all the vaccines required by PA law in plenty of time; and don't be afraid to question parts of the standard vaccination schedule that simply don't make sense. And surprisingly, there are a handful of them.

For example, the Hep B shot at birth that started me down this road of vaccine research. Hep B is transmitted by body fluids, most commonly through sex and dirty tattoo and IV drug needles. Since I seriously doubt baby boy will be having sex, shooting up or getting tattoos within the next few years, and since the shot at birth can cause lethargy and poor appetite -- both of which could potentially make developing a breastfeeding routine difficult -- we're going to delay this one. Now yes, there is a risk of baby boy contracting Hep B should he need a blood transfusion or come into contact with an infected person's blood or saliva, however that risk is extremely rare. But not to worry: we're not abandoning the vaccine (after all, PA law requires Hep B vaccination before entry into school and it makes a lot of sense from a public health standpoint to ensure generations are vaccinated against this and other diseases), we're just weighing the risks and delaying it.

But delaying one shot has a domino affect for appointments and makes the vaccination puzzle all the more complex. Hence the need for four hours of analysis on Saturday.

And get this: did you know PA law now REQUIRES chickenpox immunity before a kid goes to school?! Yeah, that same right-of-passage, itchy-spots disease all my friends and I had growing up now either has to be caught before a kid enters kindergarten, or the kid has to have a shot or two to vaccinate against it before they'll let him through the school doors.

Ultimately I feel much more informed and prepared to ask Dr. Baker his professional opinion, when we meet him. Call me granola, but I'm glad I took the time to educate myself a little bit to learn there is more than one right answer in this case. And it gave me another opportunity to plug information into a spreadsheet, which always makes for a great afternoon.

Two Questions

Thanks, Kristen, for this.

Question #1: Should we get a dog?


Question #2: Or should we have kids?

Goodbye, mucous plug (not for squeamish readers)

I'm pretty sure I lost my mucous plug last night. Or at least a good part of it, at about 10:30 p.m.

While it's usually a sign that labor it on its way, my internal on Wednesday could also have caused it to dislodge. Either way, the plug can come out hours, days or even a few weeks before delivery.

So a little bit exciting, but certainly no definitive sign baby boy is coming soon.

However, it was entertaining to me last night to learn just how uncomfortable Brian is with the word "gelatinous" with regard to body secretions.

Four years since we said "I do"

2.1 million minutes, 35,040 hours and 1,460 days of marriage
Thousands of miles back and forth to the cottage in Canada
Countless weekends in Philly, DC, State College, NY and elsewhere with family and friends
A few dozen little arguments
A smattering of big fights
3 Jamaican escapes
3 family trips to the beach
2 homes
2 sibling weddings
2 grandmothers’ passings
1 new cat
1 new job
1 new car
1 baby on the way

Four years ago, today

Three years ago, today

Two years ago, today


One year ago, today

And today. No special plans for our fourth anniversary, since I'm saving up for time off after the baby. Spike was due for his annual check up, though, so we spent part of the evening with Dr. Guise. Then had a nice dinner at Lancaster Brewing Company and headed home for a quiet, early evening. Not quite the images and excitement of the last three anniversaries, but as Brian said at dinner, each of the photos is completely honest: They show where we were and what we were doing that day. Over the years some will be more glamorous than others, but all we can strive for is honesty in capturing the day.

One less surprise at birth

Baby boy has hair!! Not as much hair as I had when I was born, but at least a light dusting of peach fuzz! How do we know that? Because we could see the wispy fuzz on the surprise ultrasound I got this morning.

Went in for my 39 week appointment with Amy, and she decided to do an internal (my first), so that if I go into labor soon, at least I can let the nurses know where I was as of today. Amy said I'm 1 cm dilated and 80 percent effaced. Baby boy is at -2 station, which means he really hasn't started moving down the birth canal at all. I'm not sure what I was expecting (a tape measure?), but I sure wasn't expecting that the medical folks can determine all those measurements just by feel!

The internal itself wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't too bad. Amy made a point of "moving things around in there" to try to encourage contractions. She said my cervix is very stretchable, which is apparently good for pushing and favorable for induction, if it comes to that.

The pee was clear of sugars and proteins, and baby's heartbeat was strong. BP was 110/68, and we finalized that I'll go on the generic mini-pill (birth control) post-partum.

But I was down two pounds from last week (back under 160), and my fundal height only measured around 35/36 cm. Since they like it to be within two of the number of weeks of pregnancy (I'm 39 weeks, so 2 cm off would be 37 or 41), Amy decided to do an ultrasound, to check the amniotic fluid levels.

Fluid looked good, so no worries. He's thriving in there somewhere. Once she got the images and felt around a little more, Amy said she thinks the FH measurement may be off because baby boy is almost all on my right side. He has been for as long as I can remember, which makes for a lopsided look and frequent kicks and nudges around my side.

And it was a nice surprise to leave with three last in-the-womb photos I wasn't expecting: one of his toes jamming up under my right rib, one of his peachfuzz hair and one of his face.

Seems baby boy likely got my squishy chin, 'cause boy does his look round and chubby! Seeing his chin really kind of spun me for a loop, though, because it made it all the more real for me that parts of this baby are me, and parts are Brian. Suddenly seeing that fat little chin brought back a flood of memories from when Brian and I were dating. As silly as it sounds, we used to compare each other's chins all the time. Brian has a bony, pointy chin (almost no cartiledge), while I have a squishy chin full of extra mush. Man our chins entertained us back in the old days. So did Diet Pepsi burps, but that's another story for another time.

Now if only the picture of baby boy's toes was clear enough for me to see if he got what Brian calls his own "perfect feet" or if baby boy got my "royal toe." My second toe is considerably longer than my big toe; don't worry, I've come to terms with it over the years and it doesn't bother me anymore.

Also got a few tips from Amy for encouraging labor: REALLY spicy food for lunch (not for dinner, since that might cause heartburn at bed time); a heating pad on my lower back for 20 minutes each night; nipple stimulation for 20 minutes each night; and the old tried-and-true doin' it.

Eh, maybe I'll try one or more of those things Friday. Tomorrow is our anniversary, and while I'll be happy whenever this baby decides to come, I'd rather keep July 16 just for the Brian and I.

Oh, and if I make it to Tuesday -- my next doc's appointment -- without dropping (looks likely), Amy will schedule an induction for sometime before the end of July. I'd prefer to go naturally (doesn't "picking" his birthday seem artificial?), so I think I'd prefer to schedule for early the week of July 27, if we have to plan ahead.

39 weeks

Tick, tick, tick

Mowed the lawn for probably the last time for another couple of months today. Last mow for baby boy for probably eight or 10 years.

Brian is getting really anxious. He wants baby boy to come out tonight. I'm happy if he stays on the inside for another couple of Saturdays.

Tiredness is definitely coming back. Saturday I was yawning like crazy four hours after I woke up. But then managed to stay up celebrating Katie's birthday until about 12:30. I did lay down mid-afternoon and doze in and out for about 45 minutes.

The belly seems heavier in the past few days. A little harder to pick my legs up to step into pants, and considerably more difficult to sit up in bed at night to get up to pee.

Breast pump was ordered, and maxi pads were stocked this weekend, too. And the nursery got one more vacuum, dusting and laundering. Door is closed, and the room is off-limits to the four-leggeds until after baby boy comes home.
Last to-do I can think of is to find some sugar-free hard candies to take with me to the hospital, to keep my mouth moist during labor.

Have a good day; call me if you're having the baby

That's how Brian said goodbye to me yesterday morning.

Just a couple of notes to report: I've been yawning a lot more since last Saturday, so I think the fatigue may be returning, and today my lower back starting aching a bit on the right side. I've still been staying up until 10 or 11 each night and the back wasn't killing me, so we'll see how these symptoms progress over the coming days.

Oh, and our anesthesia class on Tuesday was informative. Not grounds for any hard-and-fast decisions (other than avoiding opioid Stadol), but worth the hour spent listening to and asking questions of Dr. Po, one of Hershey's anesthesiologists. There were only two other couples in attendance, so it was a nice, small group. Although the other two pregnant ladies were clearly approaching labor from an "I'll take the epidural as soon as I walk in the door, please" perspective, rather than one of meds as a latter resort of pain management.

But the information about spinal headaches associated with epidurals did make me a little nervous. Dr. Po said instances of puncturing the dura, therefore causing spinal fluid to leak and spark incapacitating headaches for up to a week after labor, "are not common, but they're not rare, either." Yikes. But if I make it to transition med-free, as I hope to, the spinal and the epidural/spinal combo they prefer to do both use a smaller needle to intentionally puncture the dura, so the fluid leakage isn't typically an issue.

Clarification of a few points

I'm not interested in entertaining a discussion on first amendment rights or sparking a debate on social media and its role in personal vs. professional lives. Not right now, at least. However, I do want to clarify the following.

1. I take my job very seriously, and I continually strive to meet and exceed professional expectations. I'm proud of the quantity and quality of work product I put forth.

2. My personal life and my professional life do not exist independently of each other; I am one person, and my values, character and principles of self do not change when I walk into or out of the office.

3. Neither my employer's standards of conduct nor my own professional ethics prohibited or precluded me from participating in or sharing my maternity photos. I understand some people may find the photos distasteful, and I respect opinions that differ from mine. However, I personally find the experience they captured and the images themselves beautiful, and therefore I chose to share them in my own public forum. Regardless of who sees them -- my parents, my pastor, my bosses, my critics and everyone in between -- I'm proud of the photos. So after careful consideration and for the aforementioned reasons, the photos are staying on the blog. I have nothing to be ashamed of or embarrased about.

Thank you, readers, for respecting my personal appreciation for artistic expression, even if you disapprove of the images.

38 Weeks

Definitely a different shape than the 36-week bump.

This morning's doctor appointment

Weight: up two pounds from two weeks ago, 19 pounds overall. And I crossed the 160 threshold.
Blood Pressure: 118/76
Fundal Height:37 cm, although Dr. Hazzard said now that baby boy is settling in lower, the FH measurement doesn't mean as much in the final weeks.
His Heartbeat: Loud and fast (normal)
Pee: no issues

Also found out my Group B strep results were negative, so no antibiotics are needed during delivery.

I asked if Dr. Hazzard could determine his position (which way he's facing), and she said not yet. She could definitely feel his butt just under my right rib, but she said he can still spin around in there right up until delivery. They're not worried about rotation until labor begins, and then they'd like to try to get him facing my back, with his spine against my belly.

And she called him a small baby again. :( I know she can't tell for sure, and I certainly don't want him to be too big (read: more painful to deliver), but I was kind of thinking/hoping he'd be in the 7-8 pound range. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

And after my last appointment I called my insurance provider to see what kind of coverage they offered for an IUD (birth control). They don't cover the instrument itself or the insertion or removal, so rough estimates are that an IUD would cost me about $1,000 out of pocket.

So today I asked what the typically prescribed mini-pill is, so I could check its cost through my prescription coverage. Nor-Q.D. is covered by my insurance, but it is a non-preferred, higher-cost medication. BUT, If I opt for the the generic version, Nora-Be, the cost is ZERO! My mail-order pharmacy benefit waives all co-payments for choosing the lower-cost alternative!

Imagine my surprise and delight. I mean I was used to cheap birth control (I used to get three packs for $15), but I never expected FREE BC!

So next week I just have to make sure my docs are OK prescribing the generic, which I'll start taking two two six weeks after delivery...

A very, very good weekend

Three straight days of relaxing, and absolutely no chores or productivity around the house. Just what we needed.

Friday, we spent eight hours at the Hotel Hershey. I started with an 8:30 a.m. Yoga class, and Brian hit the hotel gym. My class ended up being really cool, because I was the only one who showed up for it! So instructor Michelle walked me through 50 minutes of stretching, balance and focused breathing excercises. After my class, I walked a couple of miles on the treadmill while Brian finished up his workout. Then we walked around the hotel grounds a bit (GORGEOUS, and largely renovated/expanded within the past year), wondering how exactly they control or monitor the duck population in the koi ponds. (There was only one duck couple per pond, and we imagine the spot must appeal to more than four ducks.) After our walk, Brian hit the spa locker room & showers, and I got changed into a robe and read in the quiet room until he was done. Then we lunched on soup, gourmet salads, wraps and mini-desserts at Oasis -- in our robes; a FANTASTIC experience -- until it was time for our massages. We got an 80-minute couples massage (loved the Noche Jasmine oil). Mine was on an inclined massage table, and after laying face-up for 40 minutes of rub-down, my masseuse had me rotate for a side-lying second half of the massage. Our massages were so good we both slipped in and out of sleep. After the massages, we collected ourselves for a few minutes in the quiet room, then traded the spa robes in for swim suits. We finished the afternoon at the brand new pool facility,
catching some rays and enjoying each other's company.
(My view from the Hershey pool.) I don't think we could have asked for a more perfect all-day date.

Saturday we slept in, then spent some more time pool-side with Brian's family. Enjoyed a GREAT dinner with my dad at Carrabbas, and we opted for bed over fireworks, both asleep by 10 p.m.

And Sunday rounded out a wonderfully perfect weekend: a great maternity portrait session with Scott Church, then a family picnic and a brief visit to see Jess, Dave & Max.

Mmmmmm, what a great weekend.

Because I haven't bitched about anything in a while

1. If I had to guess, I'd say I'm now spending half my day on the toilet. OK, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but it's really annoying to have to get up and pee every 30 minutes or so. I know staying hydrated is important, so I'm focusing on choking down as much water and fluids as possible. But it's becoming a real pain in the ass, because I know it's just a matter of minutes until I'm going to have to pee it all out. Baby boy has definitely dropped or started dropping in the past week.

2. Is one final skin breakout really necessary to wrap up this experience? Naturally I'd start developing little pimples on my forehead a couple of days before my maternity portrait session. Thank goodness for photoshop.

3. Pregnancy brain may be setting in, and it sucks. Twice in the past couple of days I've mindlessly misplaced or forgotten things. Considering how organized and ordered I am typically, this REALLY drives me nuts.

The bags are ready, even if I'm not

The sight that greets me every time I go up or down the steps.

Modern Diapers: a Company Rave

Just want to share a super-crazy-positive endorsement for Lillian and her cloth diaper business, Modern Diapers.

Brian and I met with Lillian months ago, when I first started considering cloth diapers, and she has been an absolutely wonderful resource and refreshingly pleasant salesperson ever since.

Not only has she directly responded to the questions I've asked of her, but she's also offered advice I didn't know I needed. For example, when I posted on a local message board about organizing my changing table, she saw my reference to Desitin and quickly cautioned me that using the diaper cream (made with fish oil) will make all my diaper laundry smell like rotting fish!

In addition to being ever-available and eager to answer any and all questions related to cloth diapers, Lilian has been a great proponent of her business. She has never been pushy or over-eager to make the sale, and she's as willing to promote the CD businesses of other companies she trusts, as much as her own. My experience ordering and receiving all my diapers and accessories from Lilian was fantastic. She was kind enough to offer a few price discounts for my order (I didn't find better prices anywhere), she didn't charge me shipping and she was very responsive to my one inquiry as to the status of part of my order. In fact, she offered another discount when one of the products I ordered ended up becoming unavailable (at no fault of her own), and therefore late for delivery.

And the unexpected surprises with my order have just put my positive experience over the top. The hand-written thank you note, the organic lollipops (yummy!!), the samples of cloth diaper detergent. I got the last of my order last night, and at the bottom of the box I found a small tub of natural diaper rash cream, safe to use with cloth diapers. I hadn't ordered this stuff, rather Lillian surprised me with something she knew I was curious about and could use!

Talk about a businesswoman committed to superior customer service.

I only wish I knew more people in the market for cloth diapers, so I could refer them all to Lillian!

The last part of my order: two wet bags. These snazzy waterproof sacks are used to transport dirty diapers while on the go. I'll simply stick soiled diapers in a wet bag, which fits in the diaper bag, and forget about it until I get home and can throw the diapers and bag into the laundry.

Click here to see how we're diapering baby boy when he's an infant, click here to see the diapers we'll use on him when he gets to be at least 10-12 pounds, click here for a list of all our CD supplies and click here to read about why we're doing cloth diapers.