Journal

Okay I gotta run and eat and shower while I can, but I uploaded 2 photos. They're from when he was ~ 3 weeks. He's 5 weeks tomorrow. It's AMAZING how fast they change!!

Big kisses to everyone, sorry I'm not writing you personal messages. I'm thinking of you all but very strapped for time.

k 

Sorry it's been so long. Everything went well with the delivery- the birth announcement my hubbie sent out by e-mail is below. I meant to write sooner, but taking care of a tiny baby is A LOT harder than I had anticipated. I've been exhasuted and so unable to write. In fact, I got so tired out that my lupus started to come back. I went to my rheum and she told me to get a nany or a babysitter or get my baby in daycare a few hours a day a few days a week. Unfortunately it's not easy to get a nanny on short notice in DC, but the daycare we're waiting for may have a spot soon. My parents just spent a week out here helping me out so at least at the moment I'm feeling better and my lupus seems to have quieted back down.

Gotta run- the baby is crying. I'll try to post photos of him sometime later if he gives me a break :)

k 

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After nine months of hard effort and good concentration, Jackson was born on a Thursday morning, just like his mother was. He weighs seven pounds, seven ounces and measures twenty inches long.

K went in to be induced on her due date, Tuesday the 26th. For the first 24 hours at the hospital, her body didn't really respond to the hormones intended to accelerate the onset of labor. That resulted in incredible despondency and a fear that the baby wouldn't come out until he was two years old and ready for daycare.

However, a second round of induction, started on Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m., resulted in contractions and dilation within a few hours. By midnight things were progressing rapidly and K was fully dilated by 5:30 a.m. With just an hour of pushing, Jackson made his debut looking pink and slightly annoyed. I can see why; that was a pretty good gig he had going there for the last nine months.

Both K and the baby are doing great; he's eating as I type this. So far, in his first eighteen hours he's seemed to be a pretty mellow guy. Who knows what the next eighteen years will bring -- but so far we think he's totally cute. And we'll keep him.

So I have spent another 5 hrs of my life in the OB’s office this week — 3 hrs on Monday for the non-stress test (baby not stressed, me not stressed before sitting there for 3 hrs, kinda enraged by the end) and 2 hrs Tuesday for my regular check-up. I wish they had snacks, better art or at least mostly nekkid male models to make the visits more interesting, but alas, they have none of the above. Just a lot of knocked-up looking ladies and some bored looking husbands. Sometimes some cute kids though which is always a plus…

The good news is that my doc is very happy with my numbers — blood pressure, weight gain, baby’s growth as measured by the length of belly (after 16 weeks or so the number of inches (or cm I can’t remember which)  from the bottom to the top of the bulge is supposed to be the number of weeks you are plus or minus 1), head is still down — and the baby kicked her when she pushed down to feel the head, indicating response to stimulus, probably gets that from the hubby I’m sure — etc all looked good.

They start doing a physical at 37 weeks — which I was on Wednesday according to their files. I asked her to check me anyway since my hubby was in Vegas, and if it looked like the baby was going to pop out momentarily, advanced warning would be good. She said I’m not at all dilated, but that I’m 25% effaced. I asked her if she could predict timing based on my numbers and she said ‘no’. However, at least we know that the baby’s not going to fall out when I sneeze at this point. Fortunately, the baby stayed in there — hiccuping and fidgeting — until hubby got back. I figured that the hubby was there to start this process, it’s only fair if he’s there to see it through to the ending of the process.

I know the baby would like to move out of the studio and into a large space at this point, and quite frankly, I’m not opposed to the idea myself what with our constant battles over space, but now is not quite the time yet. A tad more fattening would be good – of the baby that is, not me.

I’ve also had an epiphany: when the baby gets the hiccups 4-5 times a day, there is frequently squirming and lots of movement associated with said hiccups. At first I thought the baby was annoyed by the hiccups, which is why it moved at the same time. Now I realize that perhaps the baby is practicing in-utero beat-boxing — laying down those smooth lines and grooving to the beat. Now I also realize that beat-boxing is not a skill either hubby or I have, but like Hubby says, it could be a recessive gene. Maybe my Grandpa would have been the first and finest Polish-American Beat-Boxer if only he’d been given the opportunity. I will watch carefully to see if the baby seems to keep on honing the skills after joining the rest of us.

I'll keep you all posted!

k