Music Together

So I was a little hesitant taking Emme to music class just 6 days before I was due so I enlisted Paul to come along since he might be bringing her some weeks after the baby was born. Plus it is a little difficult getting up and down and moving all around with Emme to the music. So we schlepped from Home Depot to music class and like every week Emme had a blast. She and Natalie have taken a few sessions together and it is so amazing to see each of them as the other one arrives to run and hug each other like they have been apart for ages. It is so adorable. They really are such good pals.

38.5 weeks Pregnant and Counting

So I am almost there although Baby Quinn is not as ready as I am for the birth. So far I have not dilated any, the baby has not moved down into position. The head is down but it is sitting tight where it is. As for my blood pressure it is getting worse by the day. I have not been truly diagnosed with preeclampsia just yet but my numbers are definitely heading in that direction. I went to the doctor Friday and they did a blood test. If it comes back in the normal range I can still work, if not I will be home until the birth. I would much rather spend as many days with the baby after the birth than waste some before unless it is medically necessary. So let's hope the blood test comes back good. Other than that I am tired, sleep awfully but manage to get though the day. It must be because I am running after Emme!

Three Days Old and Home Already

Emme Theresa

2 days old

Wouldn't you like to know what I am dreaming about!

This afternoon Emme and I were discharged from the hospital. She took her portrait which came out hysterical. (that will come in a week or two) Her outfit was way too big and I had to roll her pants! I swore the outfit might not fit because she was presumed to be so big but she lost a bit of weight in the hospital so we had to make do with what we had. Then she decided to show off when it was picture time so I hope her expression is a true indicator of her personality because if it is she is going to be one funny little lady. Everything has been going well. My abdomen is feeling very sore after the surgery and I have a bit of trouble walking from the pain. But that is to be expected. Paul made delicious pot roast to welcome us home and brought Emme a bouquet of flowers and a balloon. (I have to say I was a little jealous!) Here are a few pics to enjoy.

cozy in Daddy's arms

Meeting my big brother Paul Jr for the first time

Peace out- I am on my way home from the hospital!

It's A Girl!

Emme Theresa Quinn finally made her debut into the world last night January 19, 2009 at 10:12pm via C-section. She weighed 7 lbs 13 oz and is 20 & 3/4 inches long. We are all doing great.

Stuck at the Hospital

Yesterday I wasn't sure if my water broke or my bladder broke so for good measure I was instructed to meet the Dr at the hospital this morning for a check to see what was up. They could not determine if my water had actually broken but when they looked at the ultrasound I was very low on amniotic fluid. So I am stuck here at the hospital NOT in labor and I am on monitors until this fabulous child decides to make their grand entrance sometime in the next few days.

Baby's Mural

I decided a long time ago, I wanted to paint a mural on the baby's wall way before I knew the gender. Since I hate both pink and blue and they are the commercial colors for what else..... babies, I picked out the nursery bedding to be gender neutral. I also love color- lots of different colors and the bedding that caught my eye was Alphabet Soup. So over the summer I took some classes in Ceramics and Painting for fun because I knew I wouldn't just do that kind of thing unless I was in a class and really worked on some samples that I could use for the room. I made some great little bowls and figures to match the animals from Alphabet Soup and practiced painting the animals from the bedding as well.



I then decided I wanted to add a tree and a branch with the bird. So I started sketching the wall AFTER I was put on bed rest of course. Who has time to paint when you are at work all day and then when you get home you are exhausted. I am only allowed to be on my feet for a certain amount of time and then I have to put my feet up, but I have gotten a lot accomplished so far. I will share some pictures as soon as the baby is born since my camera and USB plug are packed!

39 Weeks 4 days update

Lucky me I had another doctor appt today where I was sure my blood pressure would be terrible and they would induce me but somehow I escaped with the most fabulous pressure reading all pregnancy 120/60. So they sent me home to wait. No problem there. I am in the middle of painting the mural on the baby's wall so now I have more time to devote to that before the baby comes. I have to go back on Monday to have my pressure checked again and the baby's weight(one day past my due date) if I don't deliver before then. Hopefully Baby Quinn will be here before that. I will keep drinking the Red Raspberry Leaf tea and hope for the best!

39+ Weeks-Bed Rest and NO MORE WORK!

Well today when i went in to the doctor my blood pressure was acting up again. It wasn't really high like last time or even bad enough to be medicated but the doctor decided working and a long commute at 39+ weeks was not a good idea anymore. So she put me on bedrest. :( I am very sad because I was trying so hard to make it through the three days of the NYS ELA test with my students. They are ready but I know they would do better if I were there. Maybe they wouldn't be so nervous, but unfortunately I am not going to be there. I am hoping Baby Quinn will debut soon though because I am not one to sit around and veg on the couch. There is only so much Tivo one can watch.

Another school week over

And I made it through. Well technically I took two days off- one for the doctor and one for the weather so it was only a three day work week but hey I made it to Friday. I do have to work tomorrow so hopefully the snow holds off until I get home. We were supposed to celebrate Paul's birthday (a little early) at my in laws tonight but my father in law wasn't feeling so good so the celebration was canceled. My mother in law sent us part of the delicious meal so we celebrated here instead. Tom & Jerry even got to enjoy a little bit of pot roast and gravy since it was a birthday. We are also busy cleaning out the freezer and freezing lots of meals for when the baby comes so we don't have to prepare too many meals then. I am wondering about this snow storm we are getting tomorrow..... The last 3 times I have been to the hospital over the last month it has snowed. Hmmmm I wonder- that would make a nice birthday present for Paul ;)

38+ Week update

So off I went to the doctor today even though my appt was yesterday. Yesterday's appts were canceled due to the doctor leaving for an emergency C-section to deliver twins-THANK GOD that's not me! So I had to take today off- oh well. Plus it looks like tomorrow might be another day off due to snow and ice. We shall see. So anyway I get to the doctor and my blood pressure is way too high. I didn't do anything today that would have made it that high so the doctor checked it herself and it was even higher. So I got to take a trip to the hospital so they could monitor my blood pressure for a few hours, check out the baby and do some blood work. The doctor was not too concerned that it is preeclampsia since I didn't have any of the symptoms other than the high blood pressure but better be safe than sorry so I went to the hospital. Also other exciting news- my "fabulous cervix" is dialating.

I LOVE THIS HOSPITAL. Everyone was so nice. I was able to take a little nap while the machines checked me out and the nurse that I had was so wonderful. She even brought me some cheesecake and juice and water. She was so nice to explain everything and waited with me when the lab tech came to draw my blood. She showed me the contractions I was having on the monitor which I thought were just big baby movements- hah I am going to be the idiot in labor and not know it. After about two hours of monitoring the bloodwork came back and was good and my blood pressures were much lower than the doctor's office so I got to go home! YEAH!

The nurse did say the baby looked really good and to keep my blood bank bracelet on because I just might be back sooner than I think! Let's just hope it is way after the ice melts tomorrow.

I also did the last thing on my LIST OF THINGS TO DO BEFORE BABY COMES. I took advantage of my day off and did my own belly cast. I didn't get a chance yet to photograph it so I will save it for another post soon.

My Last Project Before Giving Birth

When my colleague asked me if I could make a cake for her neighbor's first birthday I said sure. Then she told me it needed to be done for January 3rd. Hmm cutting it kind of close to my due date especially since I never made a Winnie the Pooh cake and am a much better cupcake maker than cake maker. She was pretty cool and said it had to be Winnie themed but do whatever I wanted. I like those kinds of parameters because it lets me be creative. I had to check with my sister in law Keri to make sure she wouldn't mind making it in case Baby Quinn made an early entrance. I told her I would give her the cake fee and be forever in debt. But luckily Baby Quinn waited and I am so glad because I had so much fun making this cake. I hope the little girl it is for (even though she is only one :) will like it. It is a two layered chocolate with butter cream and fondant accents. Now I am free to have this baby!

Congratulations

Congrats to our friends Rich and Eileen who gave birth to a baby girl last night. Eileen was due three days before me.

UPDATE
The baby's name is Sophia Elizabeth and she was 6lbs 10oz and 20 inches long.

37 Weeks

We are in the home stretch. Well it feels like the baby has been there awhile with all that pressure on my pelvis. So I head to the doctor to get checked to see "how things are." Well it was no surprise that Baby Quinn is positioned nice and low in my pelvis and things look great as my doctor said but I was only dialated a fingertip. Same as a few weeks ago. So she asked me about induction in two weeks. Hmmm I thought.... I still have 3 weeks until my due date, why should I be induced at 39 weeks? Won't the baby just come sooner or later? It isn't going to stay there forever right? I really couldn't get an explanation of why she wants to induce me other that on some Davis scale I scored really high and my cervix is fabulous (can a cervix really be fabulous?) so I would be a perfect candidate for induction. She made it clear right away I didn't have to make a decision right there that I should talk to Paul about it but she went on and on how great it would be and I just kept thinking that this is not what I learned in birthing class. Inductions are for medical reasons only not because I would be a good candidate since my cervix is in perfect shape and the baby is positioned so well. Then unbeknownst to me she did a little procedure while checking my cervix to "sweep" my membranes. I asked what the purpose of that was she answered "stirring up the pot." It is a natural way to stimulate the cervix into dialating.

By the end of the appointment I was overwhelmed, intimidated and I felt bullied. She had gone ahead and checked her schedule for my Week 39 which is Jan 12th and was ready to pencil me in for an induction but of course I could always cancel. I wouldn't want to lose the spot. I would have to go to the hospital the night before and get some meds to fully open my cervix if it wasn't already. She already had an induction and a C-section scheduled for that day but I could be put on also. I chose not to be penciled in that I wanted the baby to come on its own even though knowing when would be convenient. I really felt like crap for the rest of the day. That little procedure I had causes some nice cramping which lasted all day and evening. I do notice more contractions now- nothing regular but I guess the pot was stirred.

I did make a phone call to the Birthing Educator later on that day who is also a nurse, lactation consultant and doula and explained what happened. She was so proud of me to not have given in since induction is not part of my birth plan unless medically necessary. She did say that sometimes doctors think that they are doing women a favor by allowing them to be induced the 39th week so it is more convenient for the patient and they are more ready for labor than if it was spontaneous. A lot of people ask to be induced or to have an elected C-section. Thank you but not for me. So Baby Quinn will not be making a grand entrance on the 12th unless of course it just happens naturally.

So now we wait.

SICK AS COULD BE......

Ok so I wake up on Christmas Eve morning at 1:00am feeling kind of yucky. The kind of yuck that you want a bucket at your feet and to lock your self in the bathroom kind of yucky. So I thought back to the evening before. Hmmmm was I out partying and slugged back a few too many at the doggie Christmas party? NOT likely since I am 36+ weeks pregnant. Could it have been something I ate? No, I ate mostly veggies, dip a few cookies and a piece of fried chicken- that shouldn't have made me sick. That meal right there is probably the healthiest I ate in months. What then? Who knows, but I was sick and sick and sick and more sick the entire night. I resorted to living in the bathroom with my pillow and the tall kitchen garbage pail attached to me. By 6:00am five hours into the ordeal I finally decided I needed to go to the hospital. Not only because I was severely dehydrated but because throwing up with a watermelon sized uterus smashing into your ribs at every upheaval was very, very uncomfortable. At one point I thought the baby might be delivered this way.

So off we go through the horrific icy roads to the hospital with a NO WAIT ER and arrive around 7am! Gotta love that. I am seen immediately, they rehydrate me with some saline, give me some nausea meds and immodium and send someone to do some fetal monitoring on me. The baby is good, some contractions but nothing to be concerned about. They let me sleep for awhile, give me some more meds, tell me to stay as long as I like and that this bug will be around for at least the next 24-48 hours. I felt like I was beaten with a baseball bat. Everything ached so I slept on and off until one when I decided I wanted to go home to my own bed. We got home around 2 and Paul tucked me in and went to get my prescriptions. I slept on and off for the rest of the day. I was so disappointed I missed the yummy Christmas Eve Italian Fish Dinner with Marianne and Domenick at Dom's parents Farm Stand. Lobsters were calling my name but I couldn't move. I felt paralyzed. I think I finally woke up and felt well enough to stand up and move about around 4:45 am on Christmas. I napped on and off until later that morning when we had to get ready for Christmas.

I really thought I felt better on Christmas so I ate some real food and drinks other than white bread, pound cake and ginger ale. Christmas will be posted later. It was good although I missed going to Paul's parents for breakfast since I was not in great health and didn't want to get my father in law sick. He is still on the mend from some bronchitis etc. I even decided to go with my mom and Jeanine shopping on Dec 26th. I think I should've stayed home. I was not able to really enjoy myself because I started feeling that yucky feeling again- not nearly as bad thank goodness. I also had my meds that I took with me at the last moment "just in case!" I shopped a little and even took a nice nap in the cushy chairs at Roosevelt Field. I was thrilled though to have one last shopping hurrah without child in tow (on the outside-because technically I towed that baby all over the place today.) I am pretty big so everyone looked at me like I was a freak show. (That is how I felt.) But I am happy to be home now and do not plan to do anything remotely strenuous for the next nine days I am off from work.

35 Week Update

Well Baby Quinn is growing like a weed. Everything is going well. The baby is still head down so that is good. I will post the pics from the last growth scan soon. (just pure laziness and craziness with all that is going on here.) I have pitting edema in my calves, ankles and feet so that is pretty uncomfortable. That is when you take your thumb and push into my leg, ankle or foot and it doesn't just spring back. It leaves a nice hole until it feels like coming back to normal. My shoes and boots don't fit and even the loosest of socks leave a terrible ring around my ankle. Paul spends about 45 minutes a night massaging the fluid back up my legs which hurts even more but relieves some of the retention so it isn't stretching the skin so much it burns. I have also entered the stage of exhaustion. I can nap numerous times a day and then sleep all night with frequent bathroom calls since I am technically dehydrated even though all the water is in my legs that I have to drink a gallon of water a day! But this is all for a good cause- maybe baby Quinn will make an early debut and end the pains in my feet. We will have to see, however my two furbabies are settling right into baby's room and already protecting baby's crib. Here is a pic of them waiting for baby! I don't think they are going to let anyone near the baby hehe. I hope they can help feed and change diapers!

Nesting!

Our home is in the middle of renovations and updating and what better time then right before the baby comes! Talk about stress! Anyway we replaced our gutters in the summer and all of our windows in the Fall (before the frost) and our basement is days away from being complete. The nursery is painted but the mural is not even started however at least the furniture is here waiting in the garage. The new baseboard heaters had to be installed in the nursery and our bedroom and should be done by tomorrow. Hopefully the taper and good Uncle Billy will come and finish the basement taping and painting on Thursday and all the furniture that belongs in the basement can start to move there. Then maybe I won't trip, fall and almost kill myself on all the stuff around. As I type my toenail is hanging off and ooze is coming from beneath because I didn't see or remember the crate "o" crap in the hall that has been sitting there for weeks now and I walked full speed into it. I should just hang a handicap sticker from my neck and go from there.

Here are some pics to show some of the work going on.

Here are some shots of the basement room. Check out the windows and the heaters and notice no beam in the middle of the room anymore!

Paul wired this room for anything and everything. It has more wire sticking out of the walls for the computer, television, high def, Fios when it finally becomes available, speakers, phones, and any other electronic wire needing device!

Here are the pictures of the old windows and then the new ones. I hate the top of the bay window but there wasn't much else they could do with our roof the way it is.

Before

After

Baby Update 32 weeks

Well Baby Q has certainly grown a bit. Up to 4lbs 10 oz already and in the head down position which is always nice. The doctor said it will be hard for the baby to move because of the size and it keeps dropping lower so that makes it more difficult too. We started the birthing class which is very interesting. Hopefully soon we will set up the tour to visit the maternity ward and birthing rooms so it won't be so unfamiliar when we finally end up there. Next week I go for my final growth scan because of my thyroid to make sure the baby is growing in proportion. I am actually measuring a week ahead on the measurements my doctor did with her machine today. Next week we will see if this is all accurate with the nice machine at the hospital.

Baby Update 28 Weeks

Well guess what I still am not going to tell you if it's a boy or girl but things are still going great. We had a little scare with my leg swelling up like a tree trunk 2 weeks ago but that was all attributed to me 1. outlet shopping for over 7 hours straight on a Thursdays 2. going to the zoo on a class trip on Friday 3. running two days straight with Tom at an agility tournament on Sat and Sun 4. doing all of this while commuting over 12 hours those four days! By the way Tom did great!

As for the baby it is fabulous- kicking, moving a lot and of course mastering the bladder poke. This baby is even head down for now. Hopefully it stays that way and my doctor said it should. I even had the first Braxton Hicks contraction that almost knocked me on the floor. It was awful. I decided I am not ready for any more of those just yet! Baby Quinn is measuring approx 2 lbs 12 oz and is measuring within range for 28 weeks for all measurements and they didn't change my due date. That doesn't mean I haven't started my Christmas shopping. You can never be too prepared. More on Bay Quinn in two weeks after the next appt.

Update 24+ weeks

Baby Quinn- 24 weeks 2 days 1 pound 11 ounces!

Today I went for my second Anatomy Scan. The first time Baby Quinn was not very cooperative and the doctor could not get some pics of the face because its hands and arms were covering it the whole time and also the left arm because it was not where it was supposed to be. It was across the face because "stubborn" baby wouldn't put it down. They also could not see the blood vessels around the baby's heart clearly because the baby was still too small so they told me to come back in a month.

After an hour waiting we were finally seen. The techs poked around for an hour or so and got all they needed. Baby Quinn is perfect they say. The doctor then came in to check for herself and agreed and also gave us a sneak peek at what 3-D ultrasound looks like. It is still about 5 weeks too early since the baby right now is just skin covering bone- very little fat. But of course Baby Quinn got wind of it and put itself in that familiar position of hands, arms and yes even legs across the face. Oh wait and yes the baby even yanked up the cord to partially cover itself too. The doctor thought this was comical but she was nice to keep trying to get us a pic of the baby in 3-D. We did get one but the leg is straight up against the right ear and the cord looks like a snake is crawling along baby's chest. The picture is not really good considering the baby is still small and there is really no fat on it. The baby weighed in at 1 pound 11 ounces already! Good to know some of the weight I gained is baby!

Here is another side profile including a bent leg off to the right and the cord all bunched up because someone thinks its a toy. Watch out for your tails Tom and Jerry!

For a good visual- my uterus is the size of a soccer ball already! Yikes and I still have 16 weeks to go. Hopefully it will not grow too fast or I will be begging for immediate evacuation once baby hits 7 pounds! LOL I am sure Baby Quinn has a plan of its own though. Enjoy the pics.

Here is the 3-D image. It shows the leg straight up on the left, the front of the face and the cord all bunched up under its chin. Not bad for a free picture.

Baby Check up 21+ Weeks

Everything is good so far. I even got to eat a hot dog! Two more appointments during Week 24!