Praise the Lord - Emily Ruth is Born!

Today was a momentous and happy day in our family. After some difficult labor this morning, Sarah gave birth to little Emily Ruth via cesarean section at 10:25 am! Little Emily was tired and blue for a couple minutes after coming out, but responded quickly, pinked up, and began crying, which was a joyous sound for her parents to hear. Emily is now very pink, very happy, and very healthy. She weighs 7 pounds 10 ounces, and is 20 inches long. It turns out that Emily is a voracious eater, and also enjoys wiggling parts of her face and sleeping. She has a beautiful head of dark brown hair which she is eager to show off in future pictures.

Sarah is doing well, now that all the hard work and pain of labor and c-section have passed. She is exhausted but healthy and happy. As I write this, my two girls are blissfully sleeping next to me, no doubt dreaming of each other. We feel very happy and blessed that God has given us such a beautiful gift.

A 2008 Baby

2007 has officially ended, and our little one is still gestating happily.  However, I now know the end is near - very near.  Eric and I are going to check in to the hospital tonight, and I will be induced early tomorrow morning (unless she decides to come between now and then).  At my last doctor's appointment on Friday, my doctor told us that I am now a very good candidate for an induction because I was dilated some more (2 cm) and 80% effaced.  She thought that our baby would come over the weekend on her own, but alas, she appears to be rather contented where she is!  I have a feeling that this is going to be a long day, and I am overwhelmed with a mix of feelings: eagerness to meet our daughter, nervousness about how the birthing process will go, and joyfulness to have so many friends and family around us at this special time.  I can't wait to introduce the whole world to our little girl!

Week 38 (and a half)

11 days until my due date!  I am so ready to be done being pregnant, to be a mom, and to have my body be my own again.  I know I'm certainly not the first woman to experience the pains and discomforts present in the last couple weeks of pregnancy, and I do wish someone had warned me about just how ready I'm going to be to give birth.  The waiting game is tough, and it is complicated by a delivery taking place over the holidays, and family and friends who are traveling from long distances for the occasion.  Plus, if our baby decides to come late, Eric will be back in school, and I'd really rather have him around full-time that first week.

I'm doing a LOT of walking, water aerobics, etc. to try and get this process moving, but as of my appt. yesterday, I hadn't made any progress and was still only 1 cm dilated.  If anyone has any brilliant tips for inducing labor naturally, please let me know!

In other news, today is my last day of work (likely for quite awhile) and that is a strange feeling.  I'm glad to have some restful, relaxing days at home before giving birth.  I just hope I can find plenty to do to distract myself from wondering when this birth will happen!

Thanks to all our family and friends who are praying for us.  We're eager to see many of you over the holiday season, and hopefully we'll have a new addition to the family for you to meet.

Weekend in Chicago

Sarah and I went to Chicago for the weekend for some pre-baby fun. It was indeed a lot of fun, not as cold as last time, and despite some worrying from those near and dear to us, we made it home, safe and sound.

Being December and all, Chicago was abuzz with the Christmas rush, and the streets were filled with out-of-towners who drove miles to fight traffic and pay high prices at fancy stores.  Gangs of jolly santas also roamed the streets for some reason, confusing lots of little kids. Even the L was outfitted with Christmas decorations:



Sadly, Santa did not slow down the train to pick us up.

On Friday, after visiting Ikea and reconnoitering the location of our downtown hotel, we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, which was delicious. They make a mean cheesecake.

We spent most of Saturday at the Brookfield Zoo, unlike 99.9% of the rest of city. You see, the zoo is not very popular when it is December and the temperature is below freezing. Fortunately, this made for some pretty good zoo-age. With no crowds to interfere, we had more opportunities to commune with the animals. Plus, the cold weather was negated by the fact that the animal houses were kept toasty warm. Highlights of the zoo included the monkeys and gorillas:



and the dolphin show:



Sunday we took in the Museum of Science and Industry, which was also in the Christmas spirit, and featured Christmas trees from around the world. Despite the excitement of the big Star Wars exhibit that others may have been interested in, we stuck to the main exhibits like the coal mine, U-505 submarine (now 100% more underground!) and Jollyball.

After the museum, we grabbed pizza at Gino's East, saw the Second City (not as good as last time), and headed home. It was a great trip, and probably our last as just the two of us for quite a while. Still, I'm looking forward to trips as the three of us, when it will be even more fun.

Week 37

I'm officially full term!  A few days ago at my (now weekly) doctor's appointments, I was dilated to 1 cm.  Now, this means very little in terms of timing, because my doctor said she's seen women who aren't at all dilated deliver less than 48 hours later and others be dilated to 4 cm for almost a month!  Still, it's a sign that my body is preparing a way to get this baby out eventually.

Eric and I are headed to Chicago in just a few hours for the weekend.  We're hoping to enjoy one last getaway weekend while we're still childless.  It should be fun, and we've got a few things planned, but mostly we're just looking to relax!  The grandmothers-to-be are a little worried that I'll go into labor on this trip, but even if that were to happen, Chicago has wonderful hospitals. ;-)

As soon as we get back, Eric said he's going to be putting a plan into action to get the kiddo to come early - he really wants to have as much time as possible before going back to school in January, but who knows if she'll cooperate.  We'll have to wait and see...

Week 36

I now have less than one month until my official due date!  I'm feeling good because I know that anytime from here on out our baby will be pretty healthy even if she comes early.  In fact, because Eric is done with classes on December 6th, we're almost hoping that she does come a week or two early so she can have more time to bond with her dad.  I also wouldn't mind ending the pregnancy a little early, as I do grow increasingly uncomfortable everyday!

Sleeping when you are pregnant is quite a challenge.  I rotate sleeping on my left and right sides, switching when I wake up every couple of hours to use the bathroom.  But my hips are killing me by the middle of the night, and while it seems like while our baby is pretty quiet during the day, she really likes to move around at night.  And, since she is fairly large now, these movements are now quite noticeable and hard to sleep through.  I've been spending 8 hours in bed the past few nights, but probably only getting about 6 hours of sleep.

Next week at my doctor's appointment they should start checking to see if I am dilated or effaced, so that's exciting.  I'll make sure to post any news!

Week 35

I'm so sorry to the faithful friends and family who regularly check our blog hoping for an update - I haven't written nearly as often as I had hoped.  Part of this I blame on my job, which has been way more stressful and busy this fall than I ever anticipated.  But, the other part is just being a little lazy!  Either way, I'm happy to report that everything is continuing to go well with the pregnancy.

Two weeks ago I was given another ultrasound, and the partial placenta previa I was experiencing earlier has completely resolved itself.  This means I have the green light for a vaginal delivery!  Our little girl was measuring pretty much right on target at that ultrasound, though her head was measuring somewhat big - not exactly what every mother wants to hear. ;-)

I also can't complain too much about pregnancy symptoms.   I have a little trouble sleeping for any long stretch of time at night, and inevitably wake up with sore hips each morning.  But other than that, I continue to feel pretty good, have no had no noticeable swelling, and no stretch marks yet (knock on wood!).  I think staying active  - by running for as long as it was remotely comfortable, and then walking and taking water aerobics - has really helped with a smooth pregnancy.

Eric and I are eager for the arrival of our daughter!  We can't wait to meet her though there are moments when I wonder what we've gotten ourselves into.  I have a feeling that's pretty normal though.  Oh, and a huge blessing for us has been that we found a fantastic childcare provider for after my maternity leave!  Her husband works at Calvin with me, and she has two little kids of her own and watches a third child two days a week.  Oh, and they live four houses down from us - isn't that amazing?!  Eric and I felt completely at peace with her just minutes after meeting with her!

Okay, perhaps the length of this post will make up for the lack of quantity in recent weeks.  Thanks to all of you who are thinking of us and praying for us!