Any day now...

Well, baby #2's due date has officially come and gone now. It's now May 29th and she's decided she's not ready to come yet. Our last doctor's appointment was on Wednesday and she still appears to be doing fine in there. They checked to see if I was moving along at all and said I was a good 2 cm dilated (up from 1-2 cm last week) and 70% effaced (up from 50-70% effaced). So slight progress is being made. I'm perfectly happy to make a lot of progress slowly like this to shorten the hard labor. I was never checked before I went to the hospital in labor with Lily (and was only 2 cm) so I can't really compare this to that experience yet. I'm hoping I'm already further along than I was when Lily's labor started. I'm still assured that this labor will be faster and easier.

The practice I'm in now doesn't like people to go past 41 weeks. Everything I've ever heard suggests that there can be negative effects to mom and baby after 41 weeks as well. The placenta can start to deteriorate, the baby can start losing weight, and the baby is more likely to have it's first bowel movement (meconium-which is bad if it gets ingested by baby during delivery). I'd probably prefer to wait a little longer if the baby still looks like it's doing well but it would be hard to refuse an induction at that point. Our next appointment is on Tuesday (40 weeks 4 days) so if we make it until then I imagine they'll start talking about when we'll induce. Hopefully we won't make it until then. Lily came without any help so it just seems hard to believe that this baby won't/wouldn't either. Hopefully soon. A lot of times people go late on paper because the due date was actually miscalculated, but since we had so many early ultrasounds we can be certain of the due date we were given. Development changes so rapidly in those first few weeks that they can pinpoint it down to the day with a lot of accuracy. This wasn't the case with Lily because we didn't have an ultrasound until she was 12 weeks along.

I think I've actually felt a little better physically lately. I've been doing a lot less. Lily and I have been going to fewer activities (although last Saturday was a really busy day, with three different events). I've been resting more. My sister arrived on Tuesday evening, so she's been helping out around the house a lot (I haven't done any dishes since she got here). It's still hard to get up off the couch and I get odd cramps in muscles randomly, especially when I first get up. But overall I feel pretty good. I'm sure it also helps that my cold is pretty much gone now. Breathing fully and not having constant coughing fits is nice. I should probably try to get some walking in to help this baby along.

I've had time for a few projects and nesting activities, which has been nice. My hospital bag is packed and waiting in the living room. After having several contractions in the middle of the night that were a little painful a few nights ago Scott and I finally got the last few things together so I just need to grab my toothbrush and then put it in the car. I took a big suitcase to Lily's birth and barely used anything, this time I just have a small carry-on that's half full of presents for Lily. We don't want her to feel left out and wanted to get her a couple things to occupy her time at the hospital.

39 weeks

I won't technically be 39 weeks until Friday, but at this point it's close enough. A week to go. It's been short and it's been long at the same time. I feel like I've always been pregnant, as I did with Lily, but I also can't believe the baby could be here any day. Or any minute really. I still feel unprepared. Our house is definitely unprepared. My sister doesn't arrive until Tuesday so I feel like my body will just hold on to the baby until she gets here and I can relax knowing Lily has someone here 24 hours/day if we needed to leave immediately. We have contingency plans but obviously having my sister here is a lot more convenient if I need to leave for the hospital at 2 in the morning. And I think it will be more reassuring for Lily to have some normalcy too. Although I'm pretty sure she would not mind hanging out with Avery one bit.

The house is not as prepared as it was for Lily's arrival. The freezer is full, but I'm not exactly sure with what. I know there are some meals in there and some partially-prepared meals--but I don't have a list with cooking instructions like I did last time. The baby clothes are in a giant pile next to the washing machine ready to go but not washed yet. As are all the covers and pads for things like bouncy seats and swings. The car seat is installed in the car so we will be allowed to take the baby home. But we don't have a single diaper in the house yet. These things are all on my list. Unfortunately the cold I've had for the past week has had poor timing and it's made preparations a little slower. I'm not sleeping well at all and I'm often up into the wee hours of the morning coughing uncontrollably. Unfortunately since the baby is so big, I can't really get a good cough and coughing itself makes all my stomach muscles contract which kind of hurts at this point. Once I can actually get to sleep, I don't sleep too terribly, until I have to pee, which also happens at least twice per night. But it's a small price to pay.

We visited one of the midwives in our group today for our weekly appointment. The baby's heartbeat was 132 bpm which is right on target for this age. The midwife said that the baby didn't feel like it was too big. She thought it was more like 8 lbs and only thought she was that big because she knew how big Lily was. As I look back at our visits at the end of Lily's pregnancy, the midwives also thought she was around 8 lbs but the last ultrasound we had predicted 8 lbs 12 oz (only 1 oz less than Lily was). So we'll see. I feel like she'll be at least as big as Lily. But I only have experience with 2 pregnancies not hundreds. My blood pressure was good today, so no worries there. In this practice they regularly check if I'm dilating from 37 weeks onward (I never got checked with Lily until I was in active labor). The previous two times they've checked me I was only a fingertip dilated, which is basically nothing. Today I was 1-2 cm, 60% effaced and very soft. So this is a pretty big change from last week and almost where I was the first time I went to the hospital about 5 or 6 hours before Lily was born (and contractions were 6 or so minutes apart). So clearly things are going to go quicker this time around. The midwife today thought everything would go about twice as fast as with Lily and would be twice as easy. Music to my ears.

The plan, like last time, is to avoid as many interventions as possible. They advised me today to stay at home as long as possible. This is a little tricky since we know Lily came pretty quickly last time (especially at the end) and this time should be faster. There's also the added dilemma that Lily will probably be at home with my sister and niece and probably won't really like seeing me in pain (she gets upset when the baby kicks me and I say "ow"). So we'll just see how things go. But from what I recall of my previous experience with labor there won't really be a way to hide the pain from her. But the later I arrive the few interventions I can expect. The simplest reason is there just won't be time to do a lot. Ideally I would love to arrive and start pushing almost right away but obviously that's hard to plan since I can't check myself and I don't want to birth a baby on the side of the road (which recently happened on a New Haven freeway). Yale-NH Hospital routinely gives everyone a shot of pitocin post-delivery. This is the same drug that's used to induce labor, but basically all it does is cause your uterus to contract (i.e. to simulate labor). This is also the same process that happens after delivery to get the uterus to release the placenta and to continue contracting to shrink the size of the uterus. It's something I'd rather not have just because it seems unnecessary to me (since I just delivered a baby my body is already making the natural hormones to do this and breastfeeding stimulates them even more).

Above all, I'm really excited to meet our baby. I'm excited to not be pregnant any more. I'm excited for my family to visit. I'm excited for Lily to be a big sister (and she's REALLY excited too). For now, I'm excited for those newborn days and the smells of a newborn baby (I hope my cold is gone so I can smell them). I'm excited for the tiny feet and hands and a constant cuddling companion. I'm really, really excited for our family to expand--and possibly be completed (?).

Large.

But Lily still likes to be held.

Sibling class & Hospital Tour

On Monday night our family of three visited the maternity floors of the Yale-New Haven Hospital. We were there specially for a sibling class for Lily. The purpose is to show her where mommy's going to be staying for a couple of days so she can be prepared and not as scared when she comes to see me. We've started talking about mommy sleeping at the hospital and I think this sort of blows her mind and I know she won't be happy about leaving with me there (especially since we're basically together 24 hours a day when she's not sleeping). The teacher did a really good job of gearing it for the range of ages that were in the class. Lily was the youngest sibling in the group, the closest in age was a little boy a few months older than her. The two of them were the troublemakers of the group and were crawling down the halls, climbing on tables, etc. During the tour they got to see a room where I'll stay, try out the moving hospital beds, see where the snacks are and learn how to wash their hands really thoroughly.

By far the highlight of the tour was seeing the babies. There were two babies in the nursery when we visited. One was only a couple of hours old and was getting her first bath with a very proud daddy watching on. A new mom also let us take a close up look at her baby. They showed the kids her bed and all her supplies and her teeny tiny feet with her little security bracelet. Lily was quite enthralled by the baby. Up until a few months ago Lily hadn't really been interested in little babies. They don't really make a lot of noise or move around so she wasn't really that curious about them. But in the past couple of months her interest has really grown. She points out every baby she sees, even strollers she sees out the car window. She's very concerned when babies cry and wants to know why (she always thinks they are hungry or tired).

Lily learning how to swaddle a baby.

Lily learning how to hold a baby correctly.

Lily sitting with the other siblings in her class at the hospital. She had to bring her baby along and was not shy about contributing to the discussion.

35 weeks

35 weeks down only 35 days to go (or even fewer than that now). I caught a glance of myself in a mirror in a department store this weekend and I didn't recognize my belly. Looking down it doesn't look so big, but from the side I look pretty large. I'm starting to get comments from people about my size:

"Wow, that must be a big baby, if you still have another month."
to Lily: "Looks like you're going to have another baby around REALLY soon!"
And I've noticed women sympathetically (I hope) touching their stomachs as they walk past me. I guess I'm getting large.

I've gained 30 lbs so far. It's about average to gain 1 lb/week at this point which would put me right at 35 lbs, which is what I gained with Lily and what's the upper limit of the normal range the experts tell you is OK to gain. So I guess I'm OK with that. I wouldn't feel terrible if I gained a little over the 35 lb "limit". I've been going to my prenatal yoga class every Saturday pretty religiously lately. There was a stretch where I didn't go for a while because I was really congested and then a few classes ended up being canceled. I find yoga difficult if I can't breathe normally or it doesn't end up being enjoyable anyway. Although I can say it's getting pretty difficult overall at this point. The poses that are inverted at all (like downward facing dog or dolphin) are particularly uncomfortable because they get my heartburn going. I found myself ended those poses earlier just because I can feel the stomach acid start to rise--not pleasant. Other than that my exercise is limited to chasing Lily, which is a workout many days. I find that after her weekly gymnastics class I'm just as tired as she is and ready for a nap. Lifting 30+ lbs up on balance beams, up to bars, doing the hokey pokey and honestly just being on my feet for 45 minutes is pretty cardiovascular. Doing anything with an extra 30 lbs on my frame plus a 30 lb toddler is pretty tiring actually.

My body is definitely preparing for birth. I feel contractions frequently, probably hourly and sometimes more. If I'm out running errands to multiple places they start up. If I drive over a bump in the road=contraction. Last night I thought I might need to call the doctor because they actually started to get painful. I followed one of the midwife's recommendations and peed, drank a lot of water and laid down on my side and they went away pretty quickly. I had been sitting so I didn't think it would do much, but it seemed to work. I can also feel the aches and pains of my ligaments and bones loosening up to let this baby out. I guess I should be thankful, especially since the pains I'm feeling now aren't anything compared to actual labor, and this loosening should make the delivery easier. It is weird to feel actual pain in my pelvic bones though.

The baby is extremely active. Her head is down and ready to go so her legs are up in my ribs pushing around. She also gets the hiccups pretty frequently so I get simultaneous, rhythmic bumps in the top and bottom of my uterus for a couple minutes. I also feel elbows and knees sticking out frequently. I feel like she's very antsy and just can't get comfortable so she keeps adjusting and adjusting trying to get everything just right. You can see this all from the outside too. Lily is very concerned about what her little sister is doing. She likes to bring up everything she knows about a topic whenever it comes up, so when we talk about the baby she always says, "Baby kicks mommy's tummy. Owie. Baby born soon."

I realized recently that I haven't done a lot to prepare for the baby's arrival. I haven't bought a lot or gotten things organized much. We did purchase a new double-stroller that I'm pretty pleased with. It's one of the "sit and stand" varieties (although not that brand), where there's a little jump seat on the back where Lily will be able to hitch a ride sitting or standing when the car seat isn't installed. So the plan is that Lily will sit in the front seat when the baby is small and still in the infant car seat and when the baby is bigger it will sit in the front and Lily will have the back seat. It's a pretty cool design and it should work well for what we need it for. The side by side strollers are just too wide and the regular double strollers are super long; this is a good compromise for us.

Everything else is in progress. I have a list I'm working off of, which is a first step I guess. I've cleared space in Lily's dresser for some baby clothes and I'm pretty sure I know where all the baby items are in the basement. Now it's just a matter of getting things washed and put away and pulling out all those baby items to make sure there isn't anything we need to buy that I'm forgetting. There are a few minor things, like a baby monitor, that we never had for Lily but we saved all of her things so there's not much we need to get this time around. There's plenty of organizing to be done though. But at least the baby (and now Lily too) have a pediatrician all lined up (appointments and everything) and we're scheduled for a hospital tour so we know where to go and can get pre-registered.

I'm very much looking forward to my sister, Melody, and niece, Bella, arriving in less than a month now so I don't have to worry about going into labor without someone here to stay with Lily. Lily isn't allowed into the Labor and Delivery rooms so if we all have to go to the hospital, I'm on my own. Remembering back to Lily's birth, that wouldn't be a good thing. Thankfully we know people we could call if we were in a bind, but once my sister gets here everything will be much easier.

There are good parts, although as I approach the eventual birth, they seem less clear. I love being the only one that really knows this baby and that her and I share something that no one else can. That's the best part of pregnancy. I mostly enjoy feeling her move inside me and remind me that she's there waiting to meet us face to face. I often feel like she's tapping on my stomach just asking to come out. I love feeling like I'm shielding her from the outside world but I still often worry about her as I learn more about pregnancy and loss and know that nothing's certain at any stage of pregnancy. But I have these worries about Lily too, and Scott and myself, so that never really goes away. I am looking forward to this baby's birthday very much though. I'm definitely ready to meet her and find out who she is. I'm becoming less scared and nervous about the actual birth and even a little excited about it. I'm a little excited to labor again. It feels a little insane to even think that but I'm curious how it will be different or the same. I'm constantly amazed by women and how our bodies work and I am excited to experience that again--how (when given the chance--usually) everything just works. I hope that happens again this time and medications and interventions aren't necessary.

In front of "The Breakers", a Vanderbilt mansion, in Newport, RI at about 32 weeks.

Downtown Newport, RI with Daddy, Lily & Papa Jim.

"At-least-that's-not-a-maternity-fleece-I'm-busting-out of"--at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Wooster Square in New Haven

28 weeks

I feel like I'm starting to get into the final stretch. I'm in the 3rd trimester. The baby is getting big and strong. The baby is going to really start putting on weight now. It's probably around 3 lbs at this point. I'm starting to fear how big she's going to be when she's born. Lily was large (8 lbs 13 oz) and second babies are usually bigger. At least she's not a boy, but I wouldn't be surprised if she was over 9 lbs. We'll see, maybe I'll get lucky.

We had our last monthly appointment this week, now we'll be going to the doctor every 2 weeks. At the end of last week I had my gestational diabetes test and I found out at my appointment this week that I passed. So I was cleared to "keep doing what I'm doing", which is good because I haven't been eating perfectly. I also had to get a rhogam shot this week because my blood type is Rh- and Scott is Rh+. If I don't get these shots during pregnancy my body could reject future babies. I'll probably have to get one after the baby is born too.

I'm starting to really feel the effects of being pregnant now. The achy bones if I sit or lay in one position for more than a few minutes, difficulty finding a comfortable position to sleep in, regular heartburn (almost every night), a bouncing baby that can really jab me, etc. I feel like I'm getting uncomfortable earlier this time around but maybe it's just lost it's novelty this time around. Lily is also starting to get harder for me to pick up and carry around. She's over 30 lbs now so that's a pretty big object for me to be carting around. Thankfully she's generally pretty independent these days so she often doesn't want me to carry her. I've been noticing a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions this time around. I'm sure I just know what I'm feeling this time around. A couple times I've had to take it easy for a while because I've overdone it and started feeling a lot of contractions. One day I had to ask Scott to come home a little early because I knew I should lay down and most of the time that doesn't work with Lily. Thankfully all was fine and just relaxing for a bit made everything alright.

We're definitely getting excited for May to hurry up and get here. It's exciting to think about having a little newborn around again. I'm a little worried about the sleepless nights again but I'm really excited to have a tiny baby around again.

And now for a comparison shot. Here's a shot at 28 weeks (or almost 29 really).

26 weeks with Lily

Obviously I'm bigger with #2 but there is a couple weeks in between pictures here. I do think I'm definitely bigger this time around.

The 2nd trimester

So this baby is already getting a lot less personalized attention, or at least as quantified by the individual number of blog posts per child. Hopefully she will forgive me. At least posts by Dad will be equal (Lily=0, baby #2=0).

I mentioned some time several months ago that we had a few complication early in this pregnancy that could have meant the beginning of a miscarriage or could have meant nothing. Luckily for us, they turned out to be nothing. Bleeding is fairly normal when that embryo is burying itself nice and snugly but it sure doesn't feel normal when it happens to you. The only positive is that we got to see our little bean when it was no bigger than a bean. We never saw Lily this early so it was new and it was so reassuring to see that little heart beating away in there. (I had sort of convinced myself that the doctor might tell me that I wasn't pregnant and that I never was--defense mechanisms. It's amazing how quickly that bond forms.) But here's what baby #2 looked like at almost 7 weeks gestation (which is only 5 weeks post-conception, figure that math out!).


Then at about 20 weeks we were able to see the baby again and found out that #2 is a GIRL. Of course this is exciting. My sister and I weren't the best of friends through our junior high and high school years, but it's pretty nice to have her around now. It's too bad we lived so close to each other then and now we're 3,000 miles apart!

Lily joined us at this visit. There were some toys in the room so she went back and forth between playing, vying for her Daddy's attention, freaking out a little bit about what this strange woman was doing to Mommy on the exam table, and watch the baby on the flat screen TV on the wall. She was definitely interested in the baby and even she could recognize that it was a baby on the screen. Once again I was wrong and this baby turned out to be a girl too. I was basically only going on the idea that I thought this pregnancy was different than Lily's so maybe that meant it was a boy this time. Daddy was right, he thought it was a girl. I still hope we might have a boy some day if we decide to have another baby but I'm really glad Lily will have a sister. She already acts like a big sister to her rabbit and all her stuffed animals. I think she'll be great at it.

Here's a picture of our little angel.

Although I can say that, in utero, she's pretty feisty so far. So much so that the ultrasound technician asked if I could feel her jumping around and had to chase her with the ultrasound wand. She's quite active. He favorite times to jump around are when I just in get bed for the night and as soon as I sit down to relax after doing any activity. A typical fetus, she get's put to sleep by my movement and when I sit still, she wakes up. She gave me heart burn a lot earlier than Lily though.

I can feel the 2nd trimester coming to a close. The "honeymoon" is officially over. Aches and pains are starting to set in and pregnancy is losing it's fun factor. Allegedly my uterus is about the size of a soccer ball right now and it's starting to feel like it. But we still have a long way to go, so there's no sense in complaining yet. I will be very excited when June rolls around though. I'm quite convinced this baby won't be here until early June (despite the May 28th due date).

2nd Pope baby!

So the main reason for the blog name change is that we've moved past "the first Pope baby". Number two is on the way! So already baby #2 is getting the short end of the stick, it doesn't even get it's own blog. Hopefully he or she will forgive me some day. Unfortunately I think that's the fate of the second (and subsequent) children.

Two lines!

And now for the back story. On September 29 I woke up feeling not so great. As soon as I stood up out of bed I knew that was a bad idea and wanted to immediately lay back down again. All of the sudden that feeling felt very familiar. My first trimester I was pregnant with Lily, I needed to eat something in the morning in bed before I got out of bed. That feeling was immediately familiar to me. I had other signs that had made be wonder before that too so I told Scott I thought it was time to buy a pregnancy test. So he ran to the store to get a test. And of course it came back positive immediately! I wasn't exactly sure what my due date was I thought I was either one month along or two, so I was pretty sure I'd have to get an ultrasound to date the pregnancy.

This time around I was a little wiser and knew I didn't need to see my regular doctor and just called up the midwifery group that delivered Lily. Unfortunately they didn't have an available appointment for over a month, but I took it.

In the mean time I had some complications. I started bleeding, which was quite scary. When it didn't go away, I called the midwife emergency number. She suggested I go in to see a regular OB/GYN immediately. I got an appointment right away to see an OB in the same suite as my midwives. Thankfully, he was able to do an ultrasound and immediately saw the little flicker of a heartbeat. Due to the development we could see on the ultrasound it was clear that I was very early in my pregnancy--only about 5 weeks. Dr. Johnson said that seeing the heartbeat was a very good sign and pretty much meant we were out of the woods but he still wanted to see us back again in a week to make sure the baby continued to grow normally. Again, everything was fine in a week. And seeing the baby twice so early on was nice. We never saw Lily that early. Bleeding is actually pretty normal, but it's still very disconcerting.

We were also given a due date of May 28, 2010--about a month after Lily's 2nd birthday.