The Hour is Nigh

New developments today during our 38 week OB visit...

We took a rainy drive to Evendale to see one of the 6 OB's and didn't wait too long before getting a room and seeing our doctor. She came in and one of the first things out of her mouth (as if reading Jen's mind) was "we can induce you at 39 weeks if you want". I think Jen's jaw would have hit the floor if it hadn't become ALL SO REAL all of a sudden.

Basically after 39 weeks they can induce labor with only a 5% increased risk for C-section following (normal C-section rates are about 30% currently). Jen accepted the offer after a few moments of deliberation with myself and the OB. She starts week 39 on Sunday, so we scheduled the induction for 5am this Sunday.


SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!! Watch in AWE as the baby LEAPS into the world!!! HEAR the earth pounding RUMBLES of her first cries as she announces to the world her arrival!!! BE THERE!!!

Ok... maybe that was a bit much, but my nephew Lucas will get a huge kick out of it cause he LOVES the monster trucks.

Anywho. Where was I? Oh yea, the OB office. Our doctor-of-the-day also offered to do a membrane sweep as she checked Jen's cervix. First she told us Jen's about 4 cm dilated now - theoretically she's almost "halfway" there ALREADY. Crazy. Jen decided to go ahead and have the doctor do this. Note she didn't actually break her water, she just sort of "loosens" the placenta a bit from the uterus near the cervix. This often jump-starts labor. Often it's just painful and doesn't do anything.

So this is where we stand. Baby could come in next 24-48 hours and if not, Sunday looks to be the day.

Will keep you posted!

Still no baby

As a recently left comment said "[The baby will] be here before you know it"... to which I respond, I WISH!! You see, we're not that impatient. Ok, maybe a little impatient. :) It's just that Jen goes through good days and bad days. Some days she's SO miserably sick and sore that she can't barely move off the couch. Then days like today she has an energy boost and she's cleaning the floor behind the toilet (yes, nesting at it's finest). I feel for her so much because the longer she carries our little girl the harder (potentially) it will be come time to deliver.

This brings me to our most recent OB visit yesterday. Our OB-GYN office consists of 8 women doctors (7 of which deliver) and since you can't request who will be on call when labor begins you have to meet ALL of them before that day. So our most recent OB doctor was NOT Jen's favorite so far. She informed us that our baby was probably over 7 lbs right now and would likely be over be an 8-pounder. Jen was NOT excited to hear this. She then asked if an 8lb baby was harder to deliver than a 7lb one. And without sugar coating her answer she told us an 8lb baby is DEFINITELY harder to deliver. This was NOT what my very pregnant wife wanted to hear.

She also checked Jen's cervix and guess what?! Dang... same thing. 3cm. Baby's head right there. Jen cringing with pain during the exam. So with an extremely nauseous and sad wife I decided to take her to Frieda's Bakery in Madeira for some German pastry love. It did SOME to cheer her up, but I think the best cheer-up will come if Jen goes into labor PRIOR to April 13th.

So now it's now just a continued waiting game and I HATE to wait. (I also hate to lose MORE than I hate to wait - but many people already know that about me.)

Hope to have more good news soon. And yes, we're totally still stuck on baby girl names. We get so close and then we can't agree... again.

Will write more when something exciting happens. Cya!

Weekly Visits

Just a quick update. Jen and I had our first of now weekly visits to the OB. The doctor best-guessed the baby's weight at around 7 lbs now and predicted our girl would probably not move into the 8 lb range. As an aside, if the womb is anything like an aquarium, the baby will only grow in proportion to the size she's given and she's pretty packed in there. Much like small fish moved to a larger tank will quickly get larger. Hopefully this is the case with Jen's belly if it's anything like a fish tank.

But I digress...

So at this point Jen is about 3cm dilated which is normal for her due date. She is also 90% effaced which means the cervix is pretty thin with the baby's head firmly pressing against it. Jen asked how long past her due date she could go before they would induce and was told 2 weeks. At this point she became somewhat emotional (in the frantic way) but was reassured that the OB did not believe this to be a likely possibility. (Jen has had quite the rocky pregnancy - and hearing comments from Halle Berry who said she LOVED being pregnant just makes my miserably pregnant wife more... uh, miserable.)

We are pretty sick of rain, pregnancy, leaky basements, nightly vomiting (Jen, not me), carpet fuzz, coldish weather, etc and are hoping for a happy healthy baby and sunny sunny days to come SOON.

So there you have it. A timely update that no one will read. Feel free to leave a comment to tell us that someone actually HAS read this post. (Yes, I'm needy!)
:-)

As a bonus, here are *some* of the current baby names in no particular order:
Madeleine
Elena
Gwendolyn
Ella
Anna
Kathryn/Kate/Katelyn etc

Byee!

Our 1st Blog Entry

Hello all. Many of you don't yet know about our new blog, but you soon will. We will send an email to our friends and family to visit as often as you like. I will of course *try* not to put too many pictures of our little girl on the blog when she arrives, but I can't make any promises! ;-)

We are now in our final 4 weeks of pregnancy. Only week 36 according to the books, but surely it should be called week 37 or MORE - at least it feels this way to Jen cause she's is often miserable with heartburn, rib kicks, sore sausage fingers, nausea, backache, and general grumpiness. Starting this wednesday we begin our weekly OB visits for cervix checking, baby heartbeat monitoring, etc.

We are MORE than ready for the baby to come - if just for Jen to once again enjoy her favorite foods and get a night's rest. Yes, I realize that as soon as she CAN sleep comfortably again that it will be only for a couple hours tops. Ah the joys of a newborn, right?!

The nursery is pretty much done. The only thing we are missing is a rocker or glider for nursing the baby and helping aid the sleeping process. Jen, of course, did a fantastic job decorating and extra thanks to all those who contributed with the decor, clothes, and toys. Our baby is very blessed to have such great friends and family.

Well, I don't know what people's attention spans are for Blogs and such, so I'll wrap up for now. Catcha all later.