The [pre] birth story

If you're expecting your first baby, you might as well just set the date on your calendar now - your baby probably won't arrive until you're at the 41 week mark. (Not to say that some little ones don't come earlier, but you should prepare yourself for a late arrival, too.) Joe and I learned in our childbirth classes that the average first baby is delivered at 41 weeks and 1 day. For me, that would have been June 21st. Brenan was born June 22nd at 11:19am.

On June 1st, I remember saying to Joe, "Okay, we made it to June, I'm full-term, and Baby is healthy, so going into labor is fine with me any time now." Little did I know that weeks later I would still be pregnant.

We tried everything in the book to get labor to begin... so much so that I felt our efforts were worthy of a blog post on their own.

I did my best to put these in order of when we did (or started doing) them...
Walking
Sex
Relaxation
Breast pumping
Acupressure & massage
Visualization
Raspberry-leaf tea
Pineapple
Stripping the membranes
Castor oil
Jumping jacks

Not to be discouraging to any nearing-or-past-your-due-date-expecting-mothers out there, but none of these worked. I'm sure they all helped my body prepare little by little, but baby Brenan was pretty determined to stick it out until he was good n' ready to experience the world outside the womb.

Throughout my 3rd trimester I had frequent Braxton-Hicks contractions. In the last weeks before labor they were more intense, and fooled me into wishful "this is it" thoughts on more than one occasion. Contractions would be coming every 8-10 minutes for hours and then suddenly stop. Joe stayed home from work to support me though the stress of not knowing whether it was "real" or not, and the mild pain that accompanied my contractions.

After we got home from the OB on June 20 - 41 weeks

On Monday, June 20th, we had our final doctor's appointment with the OB. She did a ultrasound to check my fluid levels, which were at the lowest end of the "ok" spectrum, and to check the placenta, which was showing signs of aging and calcification. She also did a non-stress test to check how the baby was handling things. It turned out that he was doing just fine. She was surprised at how consistent his heart rate was, and was pleased to see it accelerating with movement and contractions (still just Braxton-Hicks). She stripped my membranes at that appointment, but agreed to wait for an induction until Thursday, June 23rd (a full 10 days after my due date) in respect for my wishes of avoiding a scheduled induction altogether.

My OB recommended trying castor oil mixed with orange juice when I got home to help labor begin. I was 3cm dilated and 40% effaced at my appointment, so my body was obviously close to going into labor on its own. We were hoping the castor oil would help push me over the edge. When I saw what it looked like mixed into (or rather, floating on top of) the orange juice, I wondered what the point was. Then I tried taking it by itself. Note: if you ever decide to take castor oil, mix it with orange juice. It may not help the texture, but you do NOT want to taste the castor oil by itself.

Contractions began within an hour or two, and were fairly intense. They came every 10 minutes, then every 9, then every 8... this lasted from noon to about 10pm. Then they stopped. Yet again, another exhausting and discouraging tease of labor.

Soon-to-be baby Brenan

The next morning I took another dose of castor oil in hopes that it would work even better this time... it did, but not on my uterus. This time I had no contractions, horrible gas pain, and diarrhea worse than I had when I was in India. I vowed never to take it again.

Tuesday evening (June 21st) I went to the bathroom and there was bright red blood on the paper when I wiped. I called the OB department at the hospital right away and they had me come in for observation. I was having contractions every 6-8 minutes, no more bleeding (they never really figured out what caused it, but they thought it was maybe related to having my membranes stripped the morning before), and the baby's heart rate was looking great. I was sent home 2 hours later, thankful that everything was okay.

I'll stop here, because the next part of the story is the part that many of you have been waiting for... my labor, and Brenan's arrival! (and it gets a post all to itself)

Final countdown: 0 weeks to Baby

It's finally here: Baby's "due" date.

I have to clarify a little though... we've been publicly stating that the due date is June 16, which is the date we were given early on in pregnancy based of an ultrasound we had done while in Bulgaria. When we returned to the States the doctors agreed that June 13 was a more appropriate date, but we didn't want to add to this past weekend's wedding stresses by mentioning that the baby was not only due the same week as the wedding but almost the same day.

SO, surprise! the due date is actually TODAY, folks!

Due dates, however, don't really mean to much. They just help to give you a ballpark idea of when to expect your baby. They are sometimes, unfortunately, taken a little too seriously in the medical world and used as a reason to medically induce labor or even surgically remove baby from mom. Our sincere hope is that we don't have to deal with this issue, but if Baby doesn't come in the next week we likely will.

Joe and I had a discouraging visit to the doctors this morning. My OB said that my body really isn't showing signs of being ready for labor, and she started talking about induction. It hadn't occurred to me yet that after today my baby is "overdue." I guess I think of overdue as being after 41 weeks... not immediately after the due date. Anyway, I was devastated. I have learned so much in preparing for labor and delivery about the risks of induction that now I fear having to experience it.

Using the artificial hormone, Pitocin, to start, lengthen, speed up, and strengthen contractions can take your body past its natural limits. Labor goes beyond the natural levels of pain and the strength of the contractions can stress baby beyond what he/she is designed for. Mom often ends up with pain medications even when she hadn't originally planned on them and baby sometimes ends up being born by Cesarean due to fetal distress. In short... it's better to let your body do what its designed to do on its own and not interfere. Even if that means waiting a little longer for baby than your "due date" would suggest.

I'm trying to trust and surrender this worry. In some ways it still seems so unreal that this is all happening to me. I don't have a way to explain away the belly, but everything else seems like it's all a dream... maybe I'll just wake up and find out that I'm actually not having a baby. Joe and I were saying the other day it feels like we're waiting to win the lottery or something... like there's only a small chance that I'm actually ever going to go into labor and deliver this baby. Thank goodness that's not true!

So... we wait. Sometimes patiently, sometimes impatiently... but always hoping that today will be the day.

Belly talk

Final countdown: 1 week to Baby

39 weeks

I have to admit, Joe and I were hoping Baby would arrive this past weekend. I particularly liked June 5 as a possible birthday. I don't really know why... although 6-5-11 would be easy to remember (since 6+5=11). But alas, we woke up this morning with bulging bottom lips, pouting that we had to start another day of waiting.

Cliche, I know... but I like it anyway.

It's not actually so much that we want the pregnancy to end (although I have to say the idea of laying on my stomach is glorious). It's more of a schedule issue. (Note: I think we should probably be concerned about wanting our baby to come because of what's on our calendar... but that's another concern altogether...)

Besides Baby, coming up in the next two week period: Joe's sister gets married, my parents stay with us for the wedding weekend, and staff training starts at camp (which Joe is in charge of). So, it seems to us that the best possible time for Baby to be born would be... well... now. I would love to not be 40 weeks pregnant in those wedding pictures.

I'm glad we don't have to wait forever. I think waiting could probably be listed as a form of torture... maybe even a cause of death in extreme cases. Joe and I hold our breaths with every cramp or twinge of pressure I feel. I think it's actually worse for Joe than it is for me. We're both just SO excited!

Oscar and I took this one just for you, Katie

Final countdown: 3 weeks to Baby

Thirty-seven weeks.

Sometimes I think I'm still sort of in denial about being pregnant. It still hits me every once and a while that Whoa... this is really happening! Of course, the symptoms are obviously kind of hard to ignore at this point... not being able to roll over in bed without great effort, significant fatigue, swelling... not to mention a belly the size of a beach ball that moves on its own.

Joe and I went to the doctor on Friday. Everything is right on track for this point of pregnancy! He said the magic words, too - "If you go into labor now, we're not stopping you." That's right - I'm finally full term.

I look back on all the transitions that we've made during the course of this pregnancy and think How in the world did we do that? We moved from our host family's home in Bulgaria to our own house in a mountainside village, then we moved from there to stay with our friends for a couple days before traveling back to the States where we stayed with my parents in Virginia for three weeks. Then we moved to Ohio and unpacked the boxes that have been in storage for almost a year now to set up our apartment.

Baby is actually quite well-traveled... During this pregnancy I visited Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Greece. I have flown through London, Vienna, Sofia, and Washington, D.C. and driven what seems like everywhere else in between.

With all of the changes we've made in the past few months it's been hard to really focus on the fact that we're having a baby. It's just been since we've gotten to Ohio that we've really been able to make the preparations that we've been wanting to make... And only in this past week that we've finally come to the point where we feel like we have a place for our new arrival (more on that later!).

Now we just have to wait for when Baby decides he/she is ready, too!

Wrong day, lady.

Joe and I went to my 36 week check up today at the doctor's office - the appointment was at 10:15. We arrived at 10 o'clock sharp. The doctor was, for whatever reason, running behind, so we ended up waiting.
And waiting.
And waiting...

We were finally called back for the appointment around 11:40.

Diesal getting some love before going on a walk last week.

Now, if you have ever been pregnant before or are currently, you'll understand what I mean when I say I HAD TO PEE. Not to mention I was uncomfortable from sitting so long in the waiting room. (I actually stood up around 11:20, but by that time my bladder was so full I was afraid if I moved around too much bad things would happen to the waiting room carpet...) Once we got back to the room (well, bathroom first, then exam room) things went pretty quickly. Everything checked out okay, and I was on my way out the door.

...Except that the receptionist had gone missing. So then I stood at the check out counter for another 5 or 10 minutes with my growling tummy waiting for her to return. By the time she did, it was about noon. We're down to once a week appointments now, so we got our next one on the calendar and headed to the lab to get my blood drawn.

The hospital here, though there are some things I love about it, is really not that keen when it comes to prompt service. They have to re-register you every time you go - re-enter your information, re-copy your insurance card, re-everything. It took them almost a half-hour to call us back to get registered for my ONE lab order.

Trust me, if anyone understands how stretched my belly is, it's me.

I could have hugged the lab tech when I saw her standing at the door waiting for me as I exited the registrar's office. She took me straight back, drew the lab, and sent me on my way. Finally. By this point, I'm sure you can imagine we were quite tired of waiting and ready to get the rest of our errands run so we could get on with the day.

Joe and I ate at a local soup and salad place for lunch, stopped by the bank, and stopped by the local grocer to pick up a few of their weekly sale items that we'd seen advertized. There was a sample station at the end of one the isles and a woman handing out samples. I think it was for pasta salad. She asked if we wanted any as we were passing; we smiled and said no thank you. Then, after we had already walked far enough past her to have our backs to her she yells out, "You look like you're about ready to pop any day now!"

Wrong day, lady.

It's good for her sake we were in a public place where I didn't want to call any more attention to myself than my protruding belly already does. Otherwise, I think I might have responded a little less politely than the smile and nod I gave as we quickened our pace and went down the closest isle.

Jen's-eye view

What's funny is I had to bend over a little to be able to get my toes to show in the picture. Truthfully, when I look straight down I can't see anything but belly!

Thirty-six weeks

Thirty-four weeks

P.S. I'm posting this very late - technically I was 34 weeks as of May 2, but I was behind on picture-taking!

Dear Mel

I'm sorry that I never had the chance to meet you; attending your funeral was the closest I ever got. I have heard such fun stories about you - your laughter and loving spirit. I know that you were an amazing uncle to Joe and you would have been an amazing great uncle for our son or daughter.

Thank you so much for the person that you were. Thank you for your smile, your humor, and your creativity. We are so blessed to be able to use the crib you made for baby Joe and be reminded of you every time we put our baby down to sleep.

Love,
Jen

Ever closer to d-day

Joe's expression sums up our Monday

Today, overall, wasn't the best of days for us. ...Let's just say we had to give a ton of money to the state of Ohio via registering the car and paying a local school tax. Unexpected expenses are never fun.

 Before the day started going downhill, though, we got to have a tour of the OB unit at the hospital where I plan to deliver. We really liked the nurse that gave the tour, and we're very pleased with not only the facility but also their standard of care for obstetric patients.

We're planning on a natural birth... and yes, that does mean I will not be using any pain medications. We're also opting for the baby to "room in," which is a good thing because that is the standard at the hospital we've chosen.

Joe and I are getting really excited for the big day! First things first, though.... we still have an apartment to get moved in to! Tomorrow, Joe and our soon-to-be brother-in-law, Tyler, are going to get to work rearranging furniture. I can't wait!

Congratulations, graduate!

Joe & I, Dad, Shannon, Mom, and Dan

You've worked so hard for this degree, Shannon. Congratulations! I'm so glad we could be there to see you walk across the stage!

My birth-day

Twenty four years ago, on April 28, my mom gave birth to me. Now here I am, almost a quarter-century later, a soon-to-be momma. Someday I'm going to be in her shoes... maybe twenty four years from now... watching my son or daughter get ready for parenthood. It's going to be a long journey to get there I'm sure... there will times of joy, sorrow, laughter, and tears... but through all of it we will be family.

Thirty-two weeks

A baby means...

Thank you to the women from my parents' church who put together a beautiful baby shower for Joe and I this week. It was so meaningful!

With Meemaw-to-be-(of grandbaby #3!)

One of my favorite cards from the shower:

A baby means...
room arranging,
diaper changing,
late-night feeding,
story reading.

A baby means...
mess ignoring,
cereal pouring,
singing, rocking,
cabinet locking,
long walk taking,
early waking,
grins and coos,
pinks and blues.

And this is just a start -
most of all, a baby means a love that fills your heart!

Thirty weeks

Belly picture archives

Can't get enough of the baby belly? Click the links below for more!

28 weeks
26 weeks
24 weeks
22 weeks
20 weeks
18 weeks
16 weeks