New pictures added - Dec 24

I just added a bunch of new pictures from the last week! Chris' family is flying in today so I don't have time to post anything, but I wanted to get the pictures up.

Merry Christmas to you from all of us!

Pictures: December 24, 2007

Members only club

I found that after Zachary was born, I missed being pregnant (I'm sure this has a lot to do with the fact that, due to Zachary's early arrival, I didn't experience the 10th month and barely got to the point where I felt really uncomfortable). I missed my belly and how, for the first time since adolescence, I felt totally comfortable with my body. I missed the feeling of peace, contentment and fulfillment I felt, knowing that I was growing this miracle inside of me. I missed how "easy" it was to take care of this baby -- how my body fed and protected him. And I missed the smiles I got from other women, pregnant or not...how random female competitiveness had turned into comradery and support.

Now that I'm able to get out with Zachary, I'm finding that I don't have to miss all of that. Sure, I'm back to feeling insecure about my body (and then some, now that it's a post-baby body). And it's a lot more work to take care of him. But I still feel that fulfillment, knowing that this is our precious little boy. And I've found that, as long as I have Zachary with me, I'm part of this new club! I'm a mother, and all the other mothers I pass in the street or store or sit with in the Nordstrom lounge as we nurse are in the same club. And our secret handshake is a smile -- very similar to those smiles that made me feel so content when I was pregnant.

It's pretty neat.

Not quite ready for civilized society

For a little guy, Zachary sure produces some impressively loud (and rude) fang pi! Chris and I just roll our eyes while Zachary roots around under the Hooter Hider, grunting, slurping and fang pi-ing without a care in the world. We really need to work on his table manners.

New pictures added

I've added a few pictures from the past week! I also have pictures from our outings this weekend, but I think I will add those to my other blog since that is where I document our family life and events.

Pictures: December 16, 2007

I think we're alone now

Well, we're on our own now! A-mah and Opa left yesterday morning, so now it's just us. Although we have really appreciated the help and support of our families, it's kind of nice to finally have a chance to settle into our own rhythm. Now we can see how things are really going to be from now on. It's a bit intimidating, but also a bit of a relief to finally have a chance to stabilize.

I know, I know...you just want to hear about Zachary! He's doing well, don't worry. He still hasn't added much to his repertoire of skills (eating, sleeping, fussing, soiling) but he is focusing more on faces and following objects with his eyes. He does more gurgling and cooing, and his spontaneous smiles are more numerous. I think I saw a real smile this morning, but it could have been gas pains as well.

We think Zachary might have baby acid reflux. He has most of the classic symptoms, so we've been trying to keep him positioned upright as much as possible to see if that helps. We also caved in and got him a pacifier, because the sucking is supposed to help reflux babies keep the contents of their stomachs where it's supposed to be.

So far, these things seem to be working! Last night was the first night in a long time that we haven't had to spend 2+ hours trying to get him back to sleep after he wakes for his 2AM feeding. We are also borrowing a swing from Robin and Glenda, and today is the first time Zachary has fallen asleep anywhere other than in the baby carrier or in our arms! We don't actually turn the swing on because he doesn't seem to be a big fan of the motion, but he seems a lot more comfortable in the upright seat than he does when we try to put him down on his back.

The jury is still out on the pacifier. Sometimes he takes it and sucks like crazy for about two minutes, but he generally spits it out within 20 seconds. We'll see how it goes.

This weekend will be Zachary's big debut! On Saturday morning, Margaret is going to help me with my first time taking Zachary out for anything longer than a 40 minute walk around the neighborhood. We're going to actually pack a diaper bag, and maybe even try nursing in public! Margaret has offered to create a diversion while I get set up nursing since I'm not very subtle about it yet. Margaret's such a good friend and (fairy) godmother!

Saturday evening, we will head to Jen and Eric's for their Christmas party! Since we still have to be careful with people touching or holding Zachary, we will bring his Ergo and sling to carry him around. Hopefully I will be able to just wear him in the sling all night, but lately he hasn't been very happy about being in there so I'm bringing the Ergo as back-up.

Today I took my first walk with both Zachary and Cowboy! With Zachary in the Ergo, it's pretty easy for me to handle both of my boys. However, handling Zachary, Cowboy, a cup of hot tea, and a piece of quiche in a box at the same time is a bit more challenging... I'm also not quite ready to try the stroller yet. Cowboy is a little wary of it, so I'd rather that be a joint effort with Chris.

I'll post some pictures later this weekend!

5 weeks old

Zachary is five weeks old today! I've posted several new pictures from the past week

5 weeks old

Zachary is five weeks old today! We've spent the last couple days starting to get ready for Zachary's first Christmas -- buying a tree, putting up lights, setting up a life-sized twinkling snowman on our porch (after all, what would Christmas be without a life-sized twinkling snowman?). We've also taken a couple walks around the neighborhood with Zachary in the Ergo carrier. He seems to really like it and falls asleep immediately. We even went to the Pathway of Lights at Greenlake and stopped by Thuy and Fernando's Christmas cocktail party for a few minutes, and Zachary didn't stir once (in spite of the freezing temperatures)!

I'm trying to figure out how I will manage both blogs (mama's blog and this one) because I don't want them to be redundant. I suppose I will merge them eventually, but for now I'll keep them separate. This one will be about Zachary only and I'll start updating the other one with more general posts, such as our Christmas celebrations, visitors, events, etc.

I've added a new set of pictures from the past week. Zachary just gets more and more handsome! I hope that I can catch one of his smiles on camera soon -- it's precious.

Pictures: December 9, 2007

The answer to life, the universe and everything...

...is also the percentage increase of weight that our little Zachary has accomplished since coming home from the hospital!

For those of you who aren't geeks like me and haven't read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams (and therefore have probably not painted a mural from it on a friend's wall during college), the answer is "42". And that is how much weight Zachary has increased in the last 4 weeks: an additional 42%! He is now 6lbs 14oz (he was 4lbs 13oz when we took him to his first check-up). He's almost the size of an average newborn! He's gained 14 oz in the past 10 days . This is really great, especially since we've stopped supplementing him and are doing only on-demand nursing. And boy, is he demanding. But we're glad he is, because we want him to gain weight as quickly as he can! Right now he's only in the 3rd percentile for weight (and 10th percentile for both length and head circumference -- 20.25" and 36 cm, respectively), but the doctor said he'll catch up eventually.

We also discovered that Zachary has the typical birth marks of both sides of his heritage! Not only does he have a "Mongolian spot" (occurs in 90-100% of Asian babies) on the right side of his lower back and bottom, but he also has a tiny little "stork bite" (occurs in most Caucasian babies) on the back of his neck. Way to be an equal opportunity baby.

Zachary spends his days doing pretty much the same things he's been doing for the past month -- nursing, sleeping, and soiling diapers. He has some awake times, but they don't last very long unless it happens to be 2 AM. Then he's ready to party (i.e. fuss and cry) all night long.

He has started to make more noises in addition to his usual grunts and squeaks, and he can hold his head up and turn it from side to side when he's on his belly. He does a little half grin and almost-smile spontaneously, and we are really looking forward to his "real" smile because we can see already that he's going to be a charmer! Also, his little water pistol trick is starting to backfire on him now -- twice he's squirted on his own head. But even that doesn't deter him. He's a crafty one, and every diaper change is an adventure!

Today is Zachary's first Nikolaustag (St. Nicholas Day -- a German holiday) and he woke up to find a crib full of Weihnachten Schokolade (Christmas chocolates) and a new piggy Tannenbaum ornament. Mama and Daddy will celebrate with A-mah and Opa this evening with some Lebkuchen and Glühwein, and Zachary can enjoy his chocolates second-hand via Mama over the next several weeks.

We're getting close to the time when he will be released from his house arrest, but the doctor told us today that we still need to be careful with him. Zachary's immune system is delicate and we are in the midst of cold and flu season, so the doctor recommends that we not let people hold or touch him when we do take him out. So although we plan to start getting him out and about soon, he will be safely nestled in a sling.

So that's the latest news about our little man! I'll try to post some more pictures this weekend.

One month old!

Tomorrow Zachary will be one month old! The last four weeks have been both the fastest and the longest I can remember. It seems amazing that we've had this little man for a month already...and it also seems like he's been a part of our lives forever.

For the past week, Zachary has been enjoying time with another set of grandparents - his A-mah and Opa (my mom and stepdad). We have been enjoying some of my favorite Taiwanese home cooking too, which is fantastic! Cowboy is also being spoiled silly, which he loves.

I've posted a new set of pictures from the last week. One of my new favorite pictures is the one of Zachary's cranky face. He really has some incredible expressions! There are also a bunch of pictures of Zachary in his first snow storm. He doesn't seem overly impressed (or even awake), but we're pretty excited about it. It doesn't snow in Seattle very often, so we wanted to be sure to take advantage of it while we could.

We also wanted to get Zachary on the hill for the first time. It's never too early to learn to ski, right? Granted he can't walk yet. Or hold his head up. But I think you will agree from this picture that he already has great skiing form!



Pictures: December 1, 2007

One down, dozens to go

Zachary has grown out of his first outfit! He has a cute "loved baby" blue onesie and hat outfit that we got for him at Birth and Beyond the day we left the hospital. I put it on him yesterday, and his hands were curled up against the mittens and his toes were jammed up in the booties. So even though he's still skinny enough to fit 2 or 3 of him inside the body of the outfit, he's gotten too long for it! We're so proud of our little string bean.

Dooby dooby due date

Zachary's finally full term today!

When I was pregnant, I complained about how there's this "myth" of the 9 month pregnancy (it's actually 40 weeks long, which is 10 months). I guess Zachary was listening to this myth as well and figured at 9 months it was time for him to make his appearance. I should be grateful to him though, because if the few days of discomfort I felt at 9 months were any indication of how the 10th month would be, it would have been a very long month...

We took Zachary in for a check-up yesterday to have him weighed and check for a possible eye infection. He was 6 lbs even -- so he's gaining well and the nursing seems to be working! And there's no eye infection -- it's just a clogged tear duct that will eventually resolve itself as he grows. In the meantime, we massage the tear duct with a warm compress to help him drain his tears.

Happy due date, little man! And keep on eating...we need to fatten you up so that I can start taking you out and showing you the world.

Happy 3 weeks!

Zachary's three weeks old today! And his actual due date is coming up next week! It's kind of funny how focused we were on his due date (November 27) for so long, and now it's finally coming up after we've already had him for nearly a month. I thought that I'd be working right up until his due date. Hah! I guess he showed me.

Zachary's still doing his favorite things: eating, sleeping, and going through diapers like nobody's business. He's also added new activities: fussing and crying (i.e. screaming like a banshee), mostly in the middle of the night. We're in the midst of weaning him from the bottle feedings, but we still give him a bottle (in addition to nursing) at night and that seems to settle him down a bit. During the day, he has a few more awake times but he still spends most of his time either nursing (every 1.5 - 2 hours) or sleeping.

My mom and stepdad arrived on Friday, so now we have more grandparents in the house! They are enchanted with their grandson (and keep commenting on how tiny and how beautiful he is) and are also really enjoying Cowboy. Cowboy is happy to finally get some attention again, and he's been a lucky dog because he gets extra walks with A-Mah and Opa now. He's also learning a bit of Mandarin and German -- which should come naturally to him since he is part Chow and part German Shepherd.

I've added a few more pictures from the last week, and I've started labeling each set by the date I post them. My mom also brought us a gift from my Da A-ie Wenmei (big auntie Wenmei -- my mom's older sister): a fancy digital camcorder! So now I might start posting videos too, as long as I can figure out how to do it.

Pictures: November 25

2-week check-up

We had our 2-week check-up today to see how Zachary's weight gain is going, get his hearing tested and do his second PKU test. His least favorite thing is to be stripped naked and placed somewhere (such as a scale) without anyone touching him, but he survived it and even managed to shoot off the water pistol while on the scale. Our goal was to get him back to his birth weight (5 lbs 7 oz) and he passed with flying colors! He weighed 5 lbs 11 oz, so he's doing just great!

This also means that we can stop with the force-feeding triple play (nurse - bottle - pump every 3 hours) and start to wean him off the bottle. Once he's off the bottle, I won't have to pump after every feeding...and this would make the feedings much quicker. I might even manage to get a whole 2.5 hours of continuous sleep at some point!

Zachary also had his measurements done, and he's still a little guy. He's 19.25 inches long (10th percentile) and his head circumference is 34 cm (10th percentile). His weight puts him in the 5th percentile for newborns. So he's on the charts...but just barely. But he's doing well considering that he's still not even due for another week!

He ended up not having his hearing tested because the machine wouldn't work, so we'll do that at his 4-week check-up. He did have the PKU done, which was awful. They slice the bottom of his heel (and yes, the doctor even showed us how the blade slices rather than pokes, because a slice makes it bleed more) and squeeze a ridiculous amount of blood out onto five circles on a sheet of paper. I hope that anemia isn't included as one of the tests they do, because how could he not be anemic after losing that much blood? (Am I starting to sound like a frantic mother? I was ready to smack the doctor when I saw how much blood he was squeezing out.)

The doctor then stuck a band-aid on the cut and told me to take it off in 20 minutes. When I did, Zachary's heel started bleeding like crazy. I was in the middle of trying to change him and didn't know what to do as he kicked and got blood on everything. So I just picked him up half-dressed and held a damp towel to the cut to apply pressure. It finally stopped bleeding after about 15 minutes. No more PKUs for Zachary. Grrr.

Also, this morning Gramma Hill left for Colorado. We were all sad to see her go, because she's been a huge help and it's been really nice for her to spend so much time with Zachary. Hopefully she'll be back to see Zachary soon!

So that was our day, and it was a big one: Gramma left, we saw the doctor, and it was Mama's first full day home alone with Zachary. And we all survived, although no laundry got done and Mama and Daddy haven't eaten anything yet. Luckily, my mom and step-dad are arriving on Friday, so we'll have a couple more weeks of help and grandparents!

Zachary's second week

I've just added a few pictures from Zachary's second week. He's starting to fill out a bit, and he's got the funniest expressions! It's hard to catch them on camera, but I'm making my best effort.

He's also learned a couple new party tricks, his favorite one being the "water pistol" game. He waits until we have his diaper off, and then he lets fly and tries to douse as much around him as he can. He's quite adept at getting his onesie and the changing pad, but sometimes he even manages to get his hat, socks, and the sheets on Mama and Daddy's bed. I haven't managed to get any action shots of that yet, because I'm usually busy ducking out of the way or scrambling to cover things up.

Pictures: Zachary's second week

Welcome back ankles

One of the many unexpected things about post partum recovery* for me has been the amount of fluid I retained due to the surgery and the IV during labor. I've been keeping close track of my weight during my pregnancy, so I know how much I weighed the day I went into labor and how much I weighed the day I was discharged from the hospital (2 days after Zachary's birth). It turns out I lost exactly ZERO pounds. In fact, I gained a half pound! I delivered a 5 -1/2 pound baby, but I still managed to GAIN weight??

Turns out I can thank the fluid retention. Insane amounts of fluid, making my feet, ankles, and legs swell up to proportions I've never seen before. I took some pictures of my feet, but I'm a little wary of posting them: fat little sausage toes smushed up against and digging trenches into chubby feet, melting into my non-existent ankles ("cankles" are a serious understatement in this case) and then onto my elephantine calves and knees. Not a pretty picture.

I talked to the doctor after the swelling was getting worse rather than better, and she said that it will take about two weeks to go down. It's a normal part of recovery, and I will find myself losing the fluid through night sweats and frequent bathroom breaks. And that's exactly what's been happening over the past week.

After several nights of sweating profusely all night long, I lost 4lbs of water weight in one night, 3lbs the next night. Since Tuesday, in fact, I've lost 12 lbs! That's got to be the easiest 12lbs I've ever lost in my life. It's kind of crazy how it happens, but I'm just so happy to have my ankles back! And I'm looking forward to wearing a pair of normal shoes again (last week I could barely squeeze my sausages into my enormously roomy wool clogs).

OK, enough about me. I'll be back soon to post more pictures of the little prince!

*To be fair, everything about post partum recovery has been unexpected to me because I never got that far in the pregnancy books. It's kind of like how I learned US history -- we never made it past WWII in the textbooks before the end of the school year, so the Vietnam and Korean wars were a mystery to me until I read about them on my own in college.

Weight watchers

We had Zachary's second pediatric appointment/weigh-in today. We've been watching his weight closely because he lost a fair amount of his birth weight. He was 5 lbs 7 oz at birth, 5 lbs 0.6 oz when we left the hospital last Tuesday, and 4 lbs 13 oz at our first pediatric appointment on Thursday. We've been following a pretty intense schedule of nursing, followed by bottle feeding to supplement, followed by pumping (to get the milk for the bottles). This routine has been taking between 1.5 and 2 hrs each time, and we do it every 3-4 hours.

Tiring as it is, it seems to be working. Today he weighed 5 lbs 3 oz, which means he gained 6 oz in five days! We have another follow-up next Monday, and hopefully he will have gained another 4 oz by then -- thus reaching his birth weight. We were told to vary our feeding routine a bit and lighten up on the nursing but increase the number of feedings and pumping. Nursing is very strenuous for him and he's just too young to be able to handle it, so our goal is to fatten him up for a bit to give him the energy to go to full-time nursing eventually.

We were also told that we need to put him on house arrest -- just like his mama was for the last five weeks of her pregnancy. Since he's still so small, we need to be careful about keeping him healthy. We're not to take him out (other than for doctor appointments) or have many people around him until he's at least 6 weeks old, so he won't be debuting until mid-December. Poor guy -- so anxious to get here early, and now he's not allowed to meet anyone until three weeks after his original due date!

Regardless, we're so happy that he's gaining weight and that our round-the-clock feeding seems to be working! Now if we could just shave a bit of time off of the routine so that we get a bit more rest between cycles. I'll have to put my analyst hat on to see where I can gain efficiencies in the process...

Zachary's first week

Zachary will be one week old tomorrow, so I figure it's time to finally put up some more pictures. I can't believe it's already been a week since he was born...and I also can't believe it's only been a week since he was born! It's incredible how dramatically our lives have changed in such a short time, yet how "right" and natural it feels. We are definitely still learning how to be a family together (and we finally introduced Cowboy to Zachary to complete the picture), but every moment is amazing.

Pictures: Zachary's first week

New links to pictures

I've added a new set of links to the left-hand column of this page so that it's easy for people to get directly to the picture sets on Flickr. The first link will take you to the page that shows all of the babyhill photo sets. The subsequent links will take you to the "details" page of each specific set. After the main link ("all babyhill collections"), the most recent pictures will be posted at the top of the list. Hopefully adding the links will help you find what you are looking for!

Birth story

Now that I've managed to get about 8 hours of sleep in (not all at once, of course), I feel completely refreshed and ready to post our birth story! (See, I knew those years of all-nighters at MIT, architecture school and as a consultant would come in handy at some point...)

Just a warning: This post might be a bit too much information for people who aren't interested in the nitty-gritty details of labor and delivery, so feel free to stop reading now! Don't worry though, the pictures at the end are relatively tame.

As you know, I posted on Saturday afternoon describing how funny I was feeling. Apparently, I was in labor already and managed to skip that whole "hours and hours of early labor building up to active labor" part. We finally decided to call the doctor on Saturday evening when Chris commented that my contractions were lasting for a long time and coming pretty frequently. I starting timing them and realized they were 45 - 90 seconds long, at intervals of 2 - 5 minutes. I called the doctor and he told us to go to triage.

In triage, they determined that I was still only 2cm dilated and 70% effaced, but my contractions were very strong and fast so they were going to admit me. We moved to a birthing suite in Labor & Delivery, where they monitored me for awhile in bed before finally letting me use the mobile monitor so that I could move around to manage the pain. I bounced on a birthing ball, paced around the room, and rocked in the glider as I tried to breathe through the contractions. Since I am a relatively quiet person by nature, Chris and I were curious how I'd be in labor - quiet or vocal. Turns out I'm rather vocal.

Chris was watching the contractions on the monitor and started naming the big ones after mountains: "Oh honey, you just climbed K2! And there's Everest! Whew, you made it up Denali!" He would tell me when I had a 14er (a class of mountains that are all over 14,000 ft tall -- climbing one is referred to as "bagging a 14er"), which meant the contraction went off the top of the chart and stayed off for awhile before coming back down. I was bagging 14ers left and right and I was in a lot of pain. The next time the nurse checked my cervix, she determined that the baby was posterior (facing up instead of down) which was causing severe back labor. Since I broke my lower back and cracked my pelvis in 2003, my OB had already warned me that any back labor would probably be excruciating, and she was right. Prior to labor, I wondered if it would be more painful to be in labor or to break my back. I now know that being in back labor is just like breaking my back...every 2-3 minutes.

I moaned and groaned and rocked and bounced my way through about 6 hours of labor but I'd only dilated to 4cm and wasn't progressing. At that point I gave in and said I'd like an epidural because I was nauseous and exhausted from the pain and my 14er contractions were coming right on top of one another with no breaks. The nurse sent for the anesthesiologist -- who was in surgery. The back-up was also in surgery, so they called for the 3rd in line, who had to drive into the hospital from home. He made it about an hour later, but when they hooked me up they found that my blood pressure was too low and they were worried that I would not be able to tolerate the epidural. They gave me a low dosage to help take the edge off, and I was finally able to lie down for awhile. Although I could still feel every contraction and had to breathe through them to cope, I wasn't getting sick or light-headed anymore.

After about an hour, they checked my cervix again and saw that I still hadn't progressed past 4 cm. The doctor decided to break my waters to see if that would help, and it sure did! My contractions got even harder and faster (I must have climbed a hundred mountain ranges by the end of the night!), and I was dilating much more quickly. However, the baby started distressing (heart rate was decelerating dramatically) after each contraction. They were concerned that the cord was being compressed, so they filled my uterus back up with fluid! I didn't even know that was an option. They also added an internal monitor so that they could monitor the baby more accurately, as well as something that monitored the exact strength of my contractions. So now, I had at least three tubes coming out of me (fetal monitor, uterine contraction monitor, tube to keep uterus filled with saline) plus the epidural and a host of other wires and tubes. So much for a "natural" birth!

After a couple more hours, I was dilated to 7cm and the epidural had completely worn off. The baby was still posterior, and now I couldn't leave the bed to walk around because of all of the monitors. They called the anesthesiologist back and he gave me another light epidural. Again, I could feel the contractions clearly, but the pain was manageable. I continued to labor, but each time I had a contraction, the baby's heart rate decelerated to below 50. They couldn't figure out why and were getting concerned. They knew that I wanted to do a vaginal birth, but at this point the doctor was warning me that if the baby's heart rate continued to be so unstable they would need to do a c-section.

I have to say, the doctors and nurses were extremely supportive of my desire to do a vaginal birth. They stayed with me and let me continue to labor as long as I could, and the second I dilated to 10cm they had me start pushing. At this point, I'd labored for over 12 hours. They had me push for awhile and the baby was descended to +2, but it just wouldn't progress any further. The heart rate kept plummeting and it was taking longer and longer for the baby to recover. Finally, the doctor apologized and said that he needed to get me to the OR immediately. He said that we'd tried everything and he'd let me go as long as possible, but it was too dangerous to let me labor any longer.

Everything was a whirlwind after that. I was wheeled into OR, Chris was given scrubs, and I was surrounded by doctors and nurses as they prepped me. I have to say, I was completely unprepared emotionally for this. Even through the pain of labor, my spirits were high and I felt like I was managing things pretty well. But I completely broke down when I realized I was having to do a c-section. Chris was upset too as he held my hand and told me how proud he was of me and how we would be just fine and everything was going to go well. I just sobbed as I was wheeled into OR.

The c-section was a blur -- I could feel tremendous pulling and pressure but not really any pain. As they were operating, every time I felt a tug I'd say, "Is the baby out? Is it OK? What is it? Is it a boy or girl?" When they finally got him out and told me he's a boy, I started sobbing again. I watched them take him over to the bassinet area to work on him, and I was freaking out because he wasn't crying. I kept saying, "Why isn't he crying? Why isn't he crying?" and the nurses kept assuring me that he was fine, they just needed to help him start breathing. It seemed to me that it took a LONG time for him to breathe on his own. I could also see as they lifted his arms up and dropped them to test his responsiveness, and they would just flop down like doll arms. I was so scared, but they told me that he was going to be OK and not to worry.

At the same time, I was feeling very disoriented from the medication. I was dizzy and nauseous and shaking uncontrollably, and they kept adjusting the meds to try to help me stabilize. I also couldn't keep my eyes open -- I felt like I was drunk to the point of passing out. When I finally heard little Zachary crying, I was so happy and relieved. But I was so out of it from the meds that I couldn't function. Chris has pictures of me with tears running down my face, a smile, and my eyes closed because I couldn't keep them open.

They finally finished stitching me up and Zachary and I were stable enough to be moved. We were moved back to our birthing suite, where the nurse continued to work with Zachary, giving him a bath and taking his vital signs. Chris says we were in the birthing suite for a couple hours after delivery, but I can barely remember that time at all. We were then moved to our post-partum room, and I can't remember that either.

Zachary was born at 6:49AM on Sunday. We were in our post-partum room by 10 AM, and for most of that day I was pretty disoriented and confused from the surgery and the medication. It was a really tough time -- I'd see Zachary and know he was my baby, but I just couldn't put it all together in my brain. It was scary to me, but I couldn't even focus long enough to understand what was going on.

Finally in the middle of the night on Sunday, my head started clearing up (I was off the narcotics and on a lighter pain med) and that's when BANG! it hit me. I fell completely head over heels in love with my baby boy. I managed to struggle my way out of bed (ever try to get out of bed with two layers of stitches and one layer of staples holding your abdomen together?) so that I could take him out of his bassinet. I put him in bed with me and just lay there holding him and crying.

So that's my rather long-winded birth story. It wasn't what we planned or expected and there were some really difficult parts, but it was all so worth it! Zachary did have to spend one night in the infant care nursery because he was having trouble regulating his body temperature, and the poor little guy had to get his heel poked for a blood sugar test every 2 hours, but he's just fine now. To see some pictures from labor and delivery, click on the link below.

We are working on breastfeeding now and he's doing very well. The doctors said it might take awhile for him to completely catch on because he's premature and didn't have time to develop the suck/swallow reflex before he was born. He's finally starting to latch correctly, and I'm pumping every 2-3 hours to make sure we have enough milk for him in case he doesn't get what he needs from me directly. We're working on getting his weight up (he was down to 4lbs 13oz at our first check-up yesterday) and we hope that he'll be back over 5lbs soon. He's considered premature until he passes his due date (November 27) so we have to be a bit careful with him, but the pediatrician said that he's a very healthy baby and looks just great.

He's a strong, observant, sweet little boy and each day with him is just more and more amazing. I can't believe we brought this little miracle into the world!

Pictures: Labor and delivery

baby zachary!

Well, I guess my post from Saturday was a bit of an understatement. Zachary James was born at 6:49 AM on Sunday, November 4th! He was 5lbs 7oz and 18-1/4" long -- a tall and skinny boy! He was a bit early, but he's doing just fine and is already eating like a champ. He's super sweet and mellow and we are having a lot of fun getting to know him and learning how to be a mama and daddy. We were discharged from the hospital this evening and have been scrambling to get the house ready (we were ready with his nursery upstairs, but after an emergency c-section, we've had to change our plans and move into the guest bedroom downstairs). Bob and Kelly are here, which is a huge help as we get settled in.

I haven't had much sleep in the past few days, so I'm going to keep this post short. We have a few pictures posted already, and I'll post more when I have time.

Pictures:
Web Nursery official hospital photos
Flickr album: "Welcome Zachary James"

Now I have to go spoil my baby boy!

The difference one day makes

Mama's toes

• Yesterday: Chipped red polish from month-old pedicure.
• Today: Fresh new mauve polish from my last pre-baby pedicure, ready for show time.
  

Baby's head

• Yesterday: I'm sure it's somewhere in there.
  
• Today: I know exactly where it is. It's really low in my pelvis, pushing up against my bladder.
  

Contractions

• Yesterday: Feels like baby is "mooning", balling up, or stretching out on all sides at once. Not painful, just a general tight feeling across the top and front of belly. Here, touch my belly -- it's like I've got rock hard abs.
  
• Today: Feels like baby is trying to make a break for it. Moderately painful, low and deep pressure radiating from my pelvis around to my lower back. Don't talk to me. Don't touch me.
  

Comfort level

• Yesterday: Feel big and unwieldy, but still relatively mobile. Feels like baby and belly are growing by the second; somewhat concerned that belly will pop like a balloon. Slow down...I can't walk that quickly.
  
• Today: Feels like I'm carrying a bowling ball between my legs. You go on, I think I'm just going to sit here for a bit...
  

Mindset

• Yesterday: Excited, looking forward to things moving along at a nice reasonable pace, happy that risk of pre-term delivery is over. Let's make sure to get all of the last minute tasks done so that we're ready for the baby!
  
• Today: All right, let's do it. I'm ready. I don't care if the nursery is done. We have the bed and some diapers, we'll survive.
  

Engaged for action

We just had our weekly NST and check-up, and it looks like babyhill is starting to get ready for his/her big debut! I'm dilated to 1 cm, 60% effaced, and the baby has engaged to the -1 station. This all means that labor could start anytime between now and 3 weeks from now...which we already knew. But at least we know things are moving at a nice reasonable pace, unlike the stressful pre-term pace we were having before.

My doctor also gave me a prescription for knee-hi compression stockings. Yay! Not only will my insurance cover a large portion of the cost (those little things are PRICEY...especially considering how unattractive they are!), but now I can go back to wearing my low-rise maternity pants without having to hitch them up every two seconds. At this point in my pregnancy, the low-rise pants are much more comfy than the full-belly pants because they put less pressure on the baby.

On the way home from the hospital, a warning light switched on in the car and the screen said, "Airbag fault". It seemed to us that a defective airbag is a particularly bad thing to have when one is 9+ months pregnant, so we called the dealer to see if we could get the car serviced. Initially we were told that they would try to fit us in next week, but once Chris explained that his wife is pregnant and ready to pop any second, they quickly offered to take the car today and provide a loaner car until my car is ready. Neat how this pregnancy thing works!

So now I have a zippy little Golf (I requested it, even though they wanted to give me the higher end Jetta) to play in for the weekend. I love it! And Chris has installed the extra infant car seat base into his car in case we need to head to the hospital before I get my car back.

We're ready to go! Now it's just a waiting game...

Footloose and fancy free

Here's a clip from the video I took of babyhill kicking me last night. The video quality isn't great because I took it with my camera, but it's decent. This is all about the feet...I'll try to take another one that shows the actual rocks and rolls of the whole body.

Note: When I squeal, it's because it feels really weird.

9 months of belly

I just added some 36 week belly pictures to Flickr. Click above or on the Flickr link at left to see the albums (belly pics are in "Pregnant Wenmei" and are in chronological order, so the newest ones will be the last five on page 3).

I have a video I might try to load, but it's rather large and might be a little disturbing to anyone who hasn't seen a baby move in utero. It's my own belly and even I get a little queasy! If I can figure out an easy way to load it (probably via YouTube, which is under maintenance right now) I will.

And yes, I'm up and online at midnight. Why? Because I'm pregnant and uncomfortable and can't sleep very well anymore. I know I'm supposed to be getting as much rest as possible since I'll be exhausted once the baby is here, but tossing and turning in bed isn't much more restful and it keeps Chris up.

Label conscious

Today is 36 weeks, and that means that if the baby comes now it won't be considered pre-term! Babies are officially "full term" at 37 weeks, but anytime between now and next Tuesday is still considered safe because the baby can breathe and eat on his/her own and will likely not have to stay in NICU.

So that's one "high risk" label I get to remove! Now I just have two remaining high risk markers: gestational diabetes and my favorite, advanced maternal age. I guess it's better to be advanced than rudimentary? I'm in the AP maternal class!

I'm hosed

Another joy of pregnancy I have now discovered: compression hose. To keep those little sausage-like feet from popping.

I hadn't been having much trouble with swelling (face and hands are normal, feet got a tad puffy at the end of the day but nothing crazy), but suddenly my feet have expanded to 2-3 times their normal size. It's really odd looking too, because my ankles aren't swelling that much. It just looks like I have really bad sprains in both of my feet. I half expect them to be black and blue, the way they look when I twist my ankle because I made the grave error of trying to be a grown-up and wear high-heeled shoes.

My doctor looked at my feet last week, had some fun poking my legs and leaving fingerprint indentions all over my shins ("Yep, you're swelling...look, isn't this fun?"), and told me that I need to start wearing compression stockings in order to make sure I don't hurt my feet and legs. So I made my third trip to the maternity store in 3 days to pick up some compression stockings. The only style they had is the full pantyhose style, so I got a couple of those. I shimmied my way into a pair and discovered that they actually do help! My legs and feet don't hurt so much anymore, and I'm not afraid to stand up at the end of the day for fear of splitting my feet open.

I also discovered that low-waisted maternity pants and full length compression hose don't mix well. It's bad enough that my belly pushes the pants down -- add a nice slick surface, and it's bye-bye pants. I had to walk around with my fingers hooked in my waistband to keep my pants up, and that didn't even work very well. I got several amused smiles from passers-by as I did my new materni-dance: waddle three steps, stop to hitch pants up, repeat.

At least it's not summertime -- I can't imagine having to wear these when it's hot out! Not to mention how goofy they'd look with my flip-flops.

Not exactly a newsflash

So I know this is pretty obvious, but goodness...pregnancy lasts a LONG time! TEN MONTHS of watching what you eat and drink, being tired and/or nauseous, becoming relatively immobile, missing out on your normal social and physical activities. And this doesn't even count the time before getting pregnant (if you were trying to stay healthy, eat well, cut back on vices, etc.)!

I've been going through old pictures and I realized that we don't have many "event" pictures for 2007. That's because we didn't attend anything (or at least, I didn't), or the things we did attend were quite mellow and sober (for me), and therefore not as photographed. I started thinking back about each event we normally celebrate: Oktoberfest? Nope, I was pregnant. 4th of July? Nope, baby on board. Bay to Breakers? Preggo. Cinco de Mayo? Knocked up. Chris' birthday? Preggers. St. Patrick's Day? Pregnant. And there won't be any Halloween bash photos from this year either.

My other sources of fun and photographs are hiking, kayaking or backpacking. None of those this year either. 2007 is going to go down as the year I didn't appear to do much of anything.

Although I have been growing a baby...which is pretty darn cool.

More belly pics

I just added some belly pics from weeks 34 and 35 to my pregnancy set on flickr (above, or click here to see the set -- the newest pictures are at the end of page 2). Even though I feel small when I'm standing next to other pregnant women, I think I look enormous in these pictures! It's funny -- I keep having dreams that my belly disappears and I wake up in a panic about it. Clearly, a disappearing belly is not an issue here.

For the next 5 weeks (or however long until I deliver), the baby will be putting on approximately an ounce a day in weight. That's almost a 1/2 pound a week! I think I'm entering that time when people on the street will look at me with pity and make comments such as "You look like you're about to pop". I guess it's a good thing that I'm restricted to house arrest?

34 weeks

We had another ultrasound today to see how babyhill is doing, and things look great! Baby is still growing as it should and is currently in the 24th percentile for weight (5lbs 3oz). It is still long and lean with a large head...kinda like its parents. I've posted the latest ultrasound photo to Flickr, so you should see it above.

When we monitored the baby, we saw what has become my "normal" pattern: I have a couple large contractions that I can feel, plus a bunch of small ones that I totally miss. Even when watching the monitor and knowing that, theoretically, I'm having a contraction. My doctor isn't too worried about the small ones right now, because they don't seem to be causing things to change or labor to start. However, I have been instructed to continue my modified house arrest (stay off my feet, work from home, etc.) until I'm at least 36 weeks along. After that, we will see how things are going and I may be allowed to go back to work and rejoin the outside world for a bit.

I know, it sounds strange that I'd be restricted now and allowed to go free later. That's because once I'm 36 weeks, there's not as much risk to the baby if I deliver early. Until then, however, I have to take it easy in order to keep baby put.

We also did our hospital tour this evening so that we know where to go and what to expect when the time comes to make our panic-stricken way there. I have to say, there's something strange about walking around with a group of very pregnant women. It's like a flock of ducks, waddling around. And I get nervous every time ALL of us pile into one elevator. Will it hold us?

I also feel a bit like an underachiever when I'm surrounded by pregnant women. I was chatting with some of them, and it turns out that I am the furthest along of most of them. Yet they all look so much more pregnant than I do! I kept sticking my belly out more so that I'd feel justified in hanging out with them.

Last night, the baby did some new move where it swept a long body part (leg? arm?) across the top of my belly. I was watching while it happened, and I actually screamed. I've gotten used to the little foot sticking out of or sliding down my right side, but an entire limb? Across the front and top of my belly? Where I can see it clearly? That was a bit much.

Anyway, time for me to drink a glass of milk (precisely 8 oz, 12g of carbs, 8g of protein...) and then settle on the couch to watch the baby dance.

Baby shower

Jen and Eric (with help from Lara and Margaret) threw us a wonderful baby shower this weekend! It was a fun time and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. I especially enjoyed myself, after spending so much time sitting on the couch trying to convince the baby to stay put for a few more weeks. It was so nice to be surrounded by good friends and enjoy their company!

The decorations were so fun and the food was amazing, including Lara's delicious cupcakes. She also made a giant lemon cupcake, which I was eyeing all night long even though I'm not allowed to eat sweets. Jen did save me a nice big slice of it (plus some of the yummy chocolate regular-sized cupcakes), which I immediately put in the freezer so that I can enjoy them after the baby is born. (All right, I admit that I did sneak a couple bites of the lemon cupcake during the evening...)

Margaret clearly has a lot more patience than I do, as she went through all of the online photo albums I have and picked out pictures of Chris and me to make these great little photo note cards. Guests were encouraged to write messages and advice for us on the note cards, and we really enjoyed reading them when we got home. Those will definitely be saved in my "baby box" (which is currently a Victoria's Secret box from my bridal shower...I think I'm going to have to upgrade soon).

As guests arrived, Jen met them at the door, gave them a necklace to wear and explained the game we were playing: the Baby game. The only rule was that you couldn't say the word "baby". If you said it, the first person to call you out on it got your necklace (plus any others you'd collected). The person with the most necklaces at the end of the night won a prize. After a lot of back and forth, the ultimate winner was Aran (although Ben and Carrie were definitely contenders). Once Aran won a huge cluster of necklaces from Carrie, he immediately hid in a corner and refused to talk until the game was over. Good strategy.

There was also a baby pool, where guests could sign up for different spots predicting when the baby will be born. Since we're already having so much "activity" on that front, the delivery dates didn't even extend to my actual due date! People are now encouraging me to hold out until a particular date so that they can win the pool. Sorry guys, I don't think I have much say over it.

My mom sent Jen my Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls from my childhood, and Jen set them up to watch over the gift table. It was such a nice surprise for me to see them there! I couldn't believe it at first, and immediately flipped up Ann's dress to see if she had the red heart with "I love you" written on it. That was all the proof I needed that those were, indeed, my dolls.

We received so many amazing gifts from friends and family! It's fun to see all of these tiny clothes and toys. And apparently, the baby will be a sports fan. When not dressed like a Bronco, the baby can choose between the USC Trojans, Bayern Munchen Fussball, Kansas Jayhawks, or MIT Engineers (OK, that last one doesn't necessarily scream "sports fan").

We were so overwhelmed with everyone's generosity. Wow.

OK, I've gone on long enough about the shower. I just had such a good time, I want to keep writing about every little thing. But I won't -- I know that's similar to forcing you to sit through every one of the 1600+ pictures I took on our honeymoon. I'll just wrap it up by saying that it was a really, really nice party and we are so appreciative of Jen, Eric, Lara and Margaret for working so hard on it, and of our friends and family for sharing such a happy time with us. Thank you!

Another day, another drug

I had another NST today, during which I apparently had several contractions that I didn't even feel. So now I'm on another medication to try to control the contractions. I figure I'm taking so many meds now, what's another one?

At our baby class last night, someone pointed out that we seem to be the only ones who are getting stuck with all of the complications. I guess we're just lucky?

I know one way we are lucky -- we have some great friends who are throwing us a shower tomorrow! I'm really looking forward to it. Being under house arrest has made me feel even more isolated (and bored) than I was before. Now I can't even relieve my boredom by going to the store or taking Cowboy for a walk...I just sit here. And I do mean "sit" -- I have contractions when I stand for more than 5-10 minutes.

I was already looking forward to this shower because it's a great group of friends and we always have fun with Eric and Jen, but now I'm even more excited because I'm getting "sprung" from house arrest for a night. And Trish is flying up for the weekend too! It's going to be a fun (mellow, seated) time.

33 weeks

I just added a couple pictures from today. Also, I had a long talk with the baby about how great it is in the womb and how he/she should enjoy it while he/she can -- ideally for at least another 5 weeks. I hope the baby listens.

House arrest

I've been instructed to take it easy and stay off my feet as much as possible in order to keep this baby from making a very early entrance. I'll be 33 weeks tomorrow and my doctor says that she'll be really happy if we can hold out until 36 weeks. The original goal (after the gestational diabetes diagnosis) was 38 weeks. So babyhill might end up being a Halloween baby instead of a Thanksgiving baby! We're still keeping our fingers crossed for Thanksgiving though. Just taking it day by day...

Dark side of the moon

Apparently babies don't "moon" in utero. What I thought was a baby butt poking out of my belly is actually a contraction. Interesting. So now, in addition to my bland...err...healthy diet of no cookies, ice cream or potato chips, I get to sit on the couch and do nothing until my next appointment on Monday.

Peanut butter and belly

I posted a couple more belly pics last night -- 32 weeks! And I'm starting to get huge. I'm getting that gravity-defying pregnant belly now.

Read an article about how Milla Jovovich has gained 70 lbs so far in her pregnancy, due mostly to peanut butter and bagels. Am jealous. Have not had a bagel in ages (one bagel = my entire carb count for the day). However, I have eaten at least the baby's weight in peanut butter.

Whenever I see anything about Milla Jovovich, I am reminded of a time I went with friends to watch her in concert at the Esplanade. This was when she was trying to be a singer (I don't think that endeavor lasted too long). I didn't know who she was, but my (male) friends knew her as a hot model and wanted to see her live. I honestly don't remember much about the concert itself, other than the fact that I wasn't overly impressed. And because of that, I've always thought of her as kind of a joke. So even though she seems to have somewhat established herself as an actress now, I still think of her as "that model who tried to be a singer".

But now I think of her as "that model who tried to be a singer and who gained 70 lbs by eating peanut butter". Much cooler.

It figures...

"I've got my figure back after giving birth. Sad, I'd hoped to get somebody else's."
- Caroline Quentin

I was kind of hoping to get Angelina Jolie's figure...but what are the chances of that, considering that she didn't even get her figure back?

Blessed

I am blessed in multiple ways, but I wanted to talk about two in particular.

The first is Margaret. She has been such a wonderful and close friend for so long, and has always been someone I can count on for fun, laughs, advice, support and all those other things we value in our friendships. And as this pregnancy has progressed, I have come to appreciate and value her friendship even more.

In the journey towards and through pregnancy, I have had to adapt my lifestyle significantly. I have had to stop drinking alcohol (obviously), limit physical activity, and completely change my diet. As I've made each change, my social activities have gotten more limited -- I can no longer go out for drinks, stay out all night, go hiking/climbing/kayaking or enjoy going out to dinner. Throughout these changes, Margaret has been my primary source of support and companionship, as she has adapted to my new limitations without complaint. Instead of a hike, she'll walk around Greenlake with me; instead of drinks at a bar, she'll meet me for a movie. While I have watched other local* friendships fade as I'm unable to participate in activities, my friendship with Margaret has continued to grow and burn brightly. I appreciate that more than she can know.

I don't expect all of my friends to change their activities simply to accommodate me. I'm not angry or resentful if they don't -- this pregnancy is something Chris and I are doing together and I don't expect the rest of the world to jump on board just because we've made this decision. And I fully expect that I will reconnect with many friends once the baby is here, we have settled into a routine, and I can get back on the trails/rock/water/mountain or out on the town. I just wanted to express my profound appreciation of and gratitude to Margaret for being so flexible, supportive and involved on her own accord.

Another way I am (apparently) blessed is the result of an odd little thing that happened yesterday. Margaret and I were chatting on a bench after getting pedicures when a disheveled-looking man walked up to us and started making random gestures towards me. He didn't say anything, but he was nodding and smiling and making circles around his belly while pointing at mine. Then he did a little "ta da" kind of motion towards me and walked away. I think he blessed me.

*Note: I specified "local" friendships because I have a very strong network of dear friends who live far away. I don't want to undermine the support and friendship I have gotten from them via IM, emails, phone calls, text messages, and visits throughout this journey.

Hiccups

Yesterday's ultrasound was a fun one -- long and informative! We got to see the baby's face (although it took a few times before Chris could decipher it) and watch it kick and wave and have the longest case of hiccups ever. When the ultrasound tech was trying to measure the heartbeat, the poor little one kept hiccuping and hiccuping. At least it doesn't hiccup the same way I do..."Hic-OWWW!....Hic-OWWW!..." (Yes, when I get the hiccups, it hurts. A lot.)

Everything looks great with baby hill. The main thing we are monitoring is the baby's size, because gestational diabetes can cause the baby to grow too quickly. According to the ultrasound, the baby is in the 22nd percentile for weight, which is great. That means it's small, but not dangerously so. All of the parts and pieces are accounted for and developing normally, and we even saw hair! It was spiky, like Chris'.

The baby weighs about 4 lbs now and is doing blue steel in the ultrasound images we got: puffy lips sticking out, chin pulled into chest. Either that, or we snapped the shots just as the baby was mid-hiccup.

I haven't gained any weight over the past month, but the doctor said that's normal for women who switch to the ADA (American Diabetes Association) diet during pregnancy. She said that the baby is growing as it should be, so I am probably losing weight elsewhere as my belly gains it. I'm already doing weekly check-ups, and starting next week I will be doing a weekly Non-Stress Test (NST) as well. This is to monitor the baby's heart rate and activity levels to ensure that it is receiving adequate oxygen and nutrients.

So baby and I are being well-monitored! Weekly appointments, glucose monitoring 2-4 times a day, insulin twice a day, precisely 3 meals and 4 snacks daily (spaced 2-3 hours apart, including the middle-of-the-night snack I have to wake up for). It's busy, but I've settled into a pretty good routine.

Now we just have to get the Lady Space cleaned out and turn it into a nursery! I guess we'll call it the Baby Space from now on.

And no, we did not find out the gender in yesterday's ultrasound either.

Agony of de-feet

Apparently the baby's feet are lodged under my ribs on the right side, which is what is causing me to feel like I've either bruised or broken a rib or two. Baby does a little tap dance on them when s/he is feeling antsy. I suppose it's better than having various internal organs danced upon, but it's still not very comfortable.

Two evenings ago, I was watching the baby dance around in my belly (trust me, it's fascinating) when suddenly a little foot comes poking out. I could clearly see it kick out from my belly and slide down to my side (to give a quick kick to my ribs) before moving back up towards the center of my belly for another round. The second time, I grabbed the foot on its descent to my ribs, and the baby immediately drew it back. And then gave me a little one-two combination kick to show me who's boss.

It was really neat, and vaguely unsettling. Whenever the baby does a move like that (just the legs sliding around, rather than the whole body rolling), it makes me feel mildly nauseous. It's very similar to the feeling you get on a roller coaster, when your stomach is still at the top of the hill after your body has made it all the way to the bottom.

We get an ultrasound today to check on the baby's growth, so hopefully we'll get to see those kicky legs in action!

Holy cow!

No pun intended

Mom's 12th baby is a whopper at 17.1 pounds

Fashion statement

Maternity clothes aren't nearly as bad now as they've been in the past. In fact, there are lots of trendy or stylish options, both affordable (Old Navy jeans for $28) and outrageous (True Religion jeans for $280). However, there seem to be several tried-and-true "rules" that maternity clothing makers follow:

• Pregnant women must wear 3/4 length sleeves. I don't know why this is. Are we more susceptible to getting long sleeves caught in paper shredders or something?
• We are either short, or short-legged. Most of my maternity pants hover an inch or so above the top of my foot. They looked OK when I was wearing sandals, but now that I'm into shoes/boots season they are starting to look funny.
• We like hoodies. Take anything, put a hood on it, and it's stylish maternity wear. Sweaters, t-shirts, blouses, tank tops, cardigans...anything is fair game.
• We can't handle things like zippers, buttons and pockets in our pants. Actually, there are some trendier "low-rise" pants that sit under your belly and include a tiny zipper-like thing and buttons, but they sit so far under your belly you can't see (or reach) them to use them easily. This is probably why most don't have zippers or buttons...but why not pockets?
• We want to show off our new shape. It's not enough to show off our bellies -- we also want to wear deep plunging v-necks to show off our cleavage. Because there's nothing like a bit of sexy to spice up a pregnant woman's wardrobe.
• We like matching pant sets. I can't say I've actually purchased or worn any of these, but I see them everywhere. I thought only grandmas wore them, but apparently pregnant women love them.

I'm looking forward to getting back into my regular wardrobe...

Wrong size

Some days I feel like my body doesn't "fit" anymore. Like my skin is a size too small and is threatening to split at the seams. Today is one of those days.

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time

Without the jelly, that is...

One of the many "joys of pregnancy" for me has been gestational diabetes. This is a form of diabetes that is caused by overly-protective pregnancy hormones which block my body's natural ability to use glucose. Once I have the baby, the diabetes should go away; in the meantime, I have to treat it using diet and insulin.

Part of my new diet includes adding protein to every portion of carbs I eat, which is a challenge for me. I've been averse to meat throughout my pregnancy (Chris' birthday dinner at Morton's Steakhouse almost ended badly several times as I gagged when steaks were carted by our table) and I'm lactose intolerant (so cheese is out). That leaves me with peanut butter. On everything. I go through a 16oz jar of natural peanut butter every 2 weeks now, and I'm putting it on everything from crackers to rice cakes to toast to bananas, celery and apples. Sometimes I'll just eat a spoonful if I don't think it will taste good with my carb (nectarines or grapes, for example).

Once this pregnancy is over, I plan to gorge myself on sushi and noodles. Lovely lovely carb-laden noodles. Pho, beef noodle soup, pad thai, crispy noodles, udon...my favorite comfort foods.

How cruel to finally be allowed to eat as much as you want...and then find out that you can't eat anything you like.

Strange men in bars

Last night, I went to the George & Dragon Pub with Chris, Margaret, and some other friends. Note, I am CLEARLY pregnant, and I was not dressed to impress -- I was wearing a red hoodie with jeans and my crocs. As we made our way into the pub, a guy looked at me and said "Way to go!". I thought he was talking about my belly, so I just smiled. Then he said something like, "You're rockin' it," followed by "Can I hang out with you?" I gave him a puzzled look and said, "Uhhh...I'm hanging out with my husband..." Odd.

Besides which, he should have asked "MAY I hang out with you?" :)

30 weeks down...

...10 more to go!

I have a feeling I'm going to need this

A friend commented to me (before I was pregnant), "Your blog's not going to turn into one of those baby-obsessed mommy blogs, will it?" I assured him at the time that my blog will remain Cowboy-centered. However, I never said I wouldn't come up with ANOTHER blog, on which I can obsess about our upcoming new family member!

So here it is -- our baby blog. I don't have much to put here yet, but I'll be adding things whenever I feel the need to have a mama vent or coo over baby toys or laugh about a "pregnesia" moment or complain about aches, pains or crazy people who feel justified saying inappropriate things to me just because I have a belly.

My first crazy person post: I was walking through Target, minding my own business, when an older man passed me and said, "Sure hope you have a husband to go with that belly." Sure wish he had a brain to go with that mouth.