2011 in Pictures

And finally they meet...

This pregnancy wasn't been just about me and Loving Husband this time. It was uniquely more involving our son. Finding ways to help him understand that another person was inside mommy, that another person would be coming to live with us and share his world that had been exclusively his, and help him learn to love his sister before her arrival. Throughout my pregnancy I was very happy with how well he took to his sister. In fact, he knew it was a sister well before any confirmation of that fact.

Ace has been very attentive to his sister during pregnancy. He has wanted to rock 'her' and he sat in my lap, holding my stomach and we'd rock in the rocking chair. He gave her kisses, hugs, said good morning to her - almost every day. He wanted to see sister ALL the time and constantly was pulling up my shirt to say 'hi' to his sister. He wanted to buy her presents all the time. On one occasion while we were in the Baby Gap - he came over to me with a tiny stuffed bunny in his hands and asked "I get this for sister?" He was very loving - he didn't ask so he could have it for himself, he truly wanted to give it to his sister... and so we bought the tiny little white bunny. He pressed it to my tummy. I suggested that we put it in her bag so that he could give it to her at the hospital when he came to meet her. As soon as we got home that's what we did. For weeks after that - he would ask to make sure we had her present. He'd want to verify it was in the bag. After verification he'd smile and wander off.

I spend endless time talking to him about what would happen upon his sister's arrival. He knew that he got to go to Gran and Pop Pop's house and that he would be spending the night for a couple of nights. He knew that he would come and visit sister in the hospital and then still go home to Gran and Pop Pop's while mom and dad stayed with sister in the hospital. He knew that sister would come home with us after we left the hospital... and as much as I would have hoped for a more natural occurrence of labor - an induction was just what we needed to truly make this an easy transition for Ace.

On Sunday evening we finished dinner and packed up the car and headed over to the grandparents. Ace was so excited to be there and played around for a bit. I got all his stuff laid out for bed - Tiger, Chip & Dale all accompanied us as snuggly bed companions - not that he really snuggles with stuffed animals, but they do sleep in his bed with him at home - so the comfort of them at Pop Pop's was important to have too. We assisted in the bedtime process and there was some mild fussing and protest to sleeping there - he calmed down and we left. After we left there was one more round of sadness and then ultimately he slept through the night. Upon waking he enjoyed breakfast, some Mickey, and walks in the snow with Pop Pop.

His sister arrived just shy of 3pm and we called and said to come on over anytime after 4:30pm. We readied ourselves and the present - I had told Loving Husband that I would be disappointed (although not surprised) if after all that build up he shied away from wanting to give it to her now - the family arrived and Ace was all smiles. He came right up to the bed and wanted to meet his sister. He said "Hi sister" and rubbed her leg. It was so sweet... we captured a few family photos and then let him run around the room for a moment.


A few minutes of exploring and we asked him if he wanted to give the bunny to his sister and indeed he did. He climbed back onto the bed and handed it to his sister. Sister 'took' it and hugged it. We took some family photos with everyone, then Ace scampered down to run around some more. Gran and Pop Pop took over oogling our little girl some and then Gran and Pop Pop headed down to the cafeteria to get some dinner for themselves and bring us some back up when they were complete with theirs. Loving Husband and Ace went exploring around the hospital. Mae and mommy stayed in bed and snuggled with her bunny.


Upon return of everyone - we ate some dinner. Ace ate my meal that was provided by the hospital - and LH and I enjoyed the food the grandparents had brought up from the cafeteria for us. I scarfed mine down pretty quick. During our eating, Ace wanted to get a burp cloth to 'wipe sister' - he had helped pack the diaper bag and had decided that she needed two burp cloths in there and knew where they were - so he went and grabbed one. Sister didn't particularly NEED to be wiped, but we allowed him to 'help'. It was very sweet.

After we finished eating and around 6pm - Ace was getting ancy to go back to Pop Pop and Gran's. He understood he had one more night at their house. He gave sister back her bunny, gave her a kiss, said goodbye to mom and dad and left with the grandparents happily. It was very sweet and an excellent first meeting between siblings.

Mae's Arrival

Mae was quite content to remain inside and that is why an induction was scheduled for Monday, January 10th at 5am - two days after my estimated due date. Since 37 weeks had had been having clustered contractions, but alas nothing that was terribly productive or progress that was a sign of our little girl coming on her own. So on Sunday night we took Ace to Gran and Pop Pop's - we stayed and got him settled into bed (the report back from the grandparents was that he woke and cried for us - but settled down and slept through the night until 7:30 the next morning! Good job, little guy!) After we left the grandparents - we headed home to finish packing, do another load of dishes, and got to bed.

We woke around 4am and I called to verify we were still on the schedule, and we were. So we got up, grabbed some breakfast, and headed off to the hospital. We got checked in and we met our nurse, Luba and I got all hooked up and ready to roll. At my appointment the previous Tuesday I was 1.75cm dilated and 0% effaced - so we had a ways to go. The IV was put in and pitocin started to flow at 5:45am at 1mm per minute. I sat for about an hour in bed and then Loving Husband and I got up and started to walk the halls - the contractions were closer together when I walked around, but were milder. Every 30 minutes the drip was kicked up by 1mm.



Around 8:30am, our doctor came in to check on us and established that I was 3cm and 50% effaced - it was at that time she broke my water. The contractions definitely increased in intensity after she broke the water and I pretty much decided I was set in the bed. I could have still walked around if I so chose, but I wasn't interested. We put on some Gilmore Girls that I had brought along and relaxed between contractions. Mae's heart rate fluctuated between 130 and 160 during most of the laboring - with an average around 130 most of the time. Unlike her brother who was a steady 150 all through labor.



One of my bigger contractions
After a few more hours of the pitocin being kicked up every 30 minutes or so, around 11am, I finally requested the epidural. After all there are no bonus points for holding out any extra time. At 11:30 epidural was in place and I was 4cm and 50% effaced. A little more time went by and Mae's heart rate started to decelerate with contractions - down to around 100. The doctor was notified and she came and observed and wasn't worried since it wasn't every contraction or consistent.

At 12:30 I was 6cm and 90% - little girl was still -2 station (so relatively high up.) The doctor said to turn the pitocin down from 8 to 4 and she predicted that I would be pushing at 2pm. Our nurse went to lunch a little before 2pm and I informed the relief nurse, Sarah that I was starting to feel the urge to push. She checked me and I was complete. We did one set of pushes through the next contraction and then she called our doctor who came over. After our doctor arrived we did a few more and then Mae's heart rate decelerated a lot (down to the low 80s) through the next couple of contractions. So we gave her a break, put me on a little oxygen and discussed that Mae was a bit too high for the vacuum, but that pushing wasn't good for her heart - they were certain it was cord compression issues - whether it was because it was around a leg, neck, etc - they weren't sure. The ultimate decision was to have me get on my hands and knees had push a few contractions in that manner to help rotate her some. Ultimately, that did the trick. She did great through those contractions and then again she did well once I was back on my back.

In just under an hour of pushing and a total labor time of 9 hours, Mae entered this world at 2:53pm weighing 6lbs and 8oz and 18" long. She did enter this world 'sunny side up' - so she has a bit of a bloodshot right eye due to some pressure from pushing against the pelvis on her way out - but ultimately the cord wasn't wrapped around any of her - and she scored a 9 on the apgar tests.

Overdue!

Mae was due on the 8th according to the doctors and the 9th according to my calculations... both dates past and induction day arrived before she decided she was going to. :) Here is the final documentation and comparison shots of the belly.

Final comparison between Ace at 40 weeks and Mae at 40 weeks


Final picture of our family of 3.5.

36 Weeks

The final countdown! I am officially 9 months pregnant. Starting on the 10th month. Yes that whole 'nine months' pregnant is a myth... although to be 'fair' there are two weeks where you're not really pregnant, so I suppose that means that I don't start tallying the 10th month until week 38... but at some point I am legally tallying a 10th month and I think it should be noted that pregnancy is in fact more than 9 months (on average.)

I have had many friends who recently had babies (in October) that originally were scheduled for November babies. Stacy delivered at 35 weeks and my friend Angie delivered at 36 weeks. We'll see when little Mae starts to make her debut.

Last Monday we had another appointment and Mae's heartbeat was 144bpm and I was 1cm dilated. Which considering I was 1.5cm at exactly 40 weeks with Ace and zero before that ... I find it mildly encouraging that at 35 weeks I was already 1cm. With Ace the first 9 hours of 'active' labor I did not progress past that 1.5cm at all... so any advancement before the 'active' stage - I'm all for! Ace's labor and delivery story can be read here.

This past week and more specifically weekend, I have been cramping and contracting and extremely uncomfortable. I can't tell if these contractions are progressive or if they're just some practice... but I have had the braxton hicks with Ace (and Mae) and these have not felt like those. However, they do seem to stop if I get off my feet - so it's hard to tell. It is frustrating when I go out to do some shopping that I have to cut my venture short because I'm contracting too much to be remotely comfortable. Mae still is quite active inside - which makes me think she's tinier than Ace was. She keeps squirming around and kicking up and under my ribs, then she'll descend down and push on my cervix with some serious force. Good to know she's got some good strength and movement, but ouchie! Two nights ago I had some issues (I'm guessing) with my sciatica nerve. My entire leg felt pain, numbness like it was asleep, and that ache you get after a charlie horse. It was super awesome flippin' awful! Thankfully that symptom/issue has only occurred the once and subsided after about 20 minutes. Loving Husband was very helpful in the wee hours with helping rub, stretch, and generally hug is sad wife amid the pain.

Baby's crown to rump length is 13.8 inches. Baby might weighs about 6.3-6.5 pounds. I think she might still be a bit smaller than that - but we'll see. History shows I can grow them pretty big. :) In comparision to random objects she is now roughly the size of honeydew melon, a breadbox, or a 17" laptop screen. ;-) Her gums are firm with ridges that look somewhat like teeth, although we'll have a few months before teething begins. We are down to the final week before Mae is considered 'full term' - after that she is good to go!

Life is going well even amid the discomfort. Holiday festivities are in full swing and Mae is along for the ride. Ace is excited for Christmas and his sister to be here. We'll see which one comes first. :) We're hoping the holiday comes first!

T-Minus 30

That is correct - we have 30 days left until the due date! I'd say that it went by fast - and in some ways it has. I think it's like when we were in school. In the midst of it - it seemed to drag on FOREVER... but then when you look back wow that was FAST! ;-)

Mae is a good mover which I find comforting and a blessing. I'm glad that I don't have to do the 'count' of movements - in fact if I only felt her 10 times within 1 hour with very concentrated efforts, that would make me nervous. Both Ace and Mae move(d) a lot in utero and I'm glad for it. Even if I often do complain about getting kicked, punched, stabbed, scraped, and lurched forward, it means that she is growing and gaining strength.

I'm feeling pretty good - at night I seem to sweat a LOT regardless of the cover amount I have on me. That is less than pleasant in the morning, but overall a very small matter. I am starting to get that winded feeling - or at least I am now attributing it to pregnancy, since I am finally over the flu, the cold, the plague that I had. I went through 3 XL boxes of Kleenex since mid-November... and no I am not exaggerating. The week of Thanksgiving I developed a cough - which now is unproductive and lingering. I have to say a cough really reinforces the need for kegel exercises! Oye. TMI? Too bad.

Sunday marks 36 weeks, so be sure to check back then for the second to last 'official' belly shot. However, to not disappoint - I leave you with one that I took on Wednesday evening before the Women's Dessert.

Mae's Movement

Mae is a mover, just like her brother. I always regretted not getting on video HOW much Ace moved, so one afternoon two weeks ago when she was on a moderate motion session (yes this isn't 'full speed') I grabbed the camera and started filming. This was at 33 weeks.

35 Down and 35 To Go

That would be 35 weeks down and 35 days to go! Yep. I thought this date alignment was neat, so I decided to memorialize it with a blog post. Pregnancy has been going well - Mae really is pushing and stretching and is overall angsty to be having less and less room which is causing me some discomfort.

She seems to be all over the place. A few days ago I swore she was going to push herself right on out, she was so low! And the last couple of days, she has been attempting to make an exit through my bottom two right ribs! Ouch on both accounts, although I think I prefer the rib attempts.

Doctor's appointments have been going well. I'm measuring right on time and the last two appointments her heartbeat has been nice and calm. She was 139bmp last Wednesday. We've entered the weekly appointment phase of the program, so we'll be seeing the doctor more and more. Ace does really well at the appointments, and even gets excited to go see 'Mae's Doctor' - it's pretty adorable.

Baby's crown to rump length is 13.4 inches and she weighs about 5.7-6 pounds. I've been pretty steady with my weight gain at an average weight of 3lbs every two weeks. So she's certainly growing away in there. Her fingernails now reach the tips of her fingers and her overall length is around 18.5" - crazy that she fits in there still. :) My belly certainly is smaller than it was with Ace, so our doctor thinks she will be at least a little smaller than Ace was at birth. We'll see!

We are nearing the time that I should start thinking about packing bags and having things ready to go for everyone. This go-around we have to have 3 bags packed. Ours, Mae's, and Ace's. :) Oh boy! Lots to think about and plan for. The doctor isn't so sure we'll have a 2011 baby - so we might have ourselves a post-Christmas December baby!

Ace is still thrilled to be a big brother, and today he wanted to 'rock Sister' so we sat in the rocking chair and he held my tummy and we rocked Sister. He explained to me twice during our less than 2 minute rock that we were rocking Sister not Ace because Ace isn't a baby. Haha fair enough! We'll see how well his interest holds once Mae is on the outside. We visited Pop Pop and Gran last night and his newest cousin was there 11 week Sophie, and he wasn't terribly interested in her. :) Only time will tell!

Excited for Sister!

Ace is extremely excited that his sister is coming. He continues to 'practice' holding sister, he daily gives her hugs and talks to her, and in general get a big grin on his face when he says 'Sister comes out after Christmas!' I love it! I continue to pray his enthusiasm holds strong after her arrival. I finally was able to capture a few of these moments in film (as proof for later) so enjoy this video of Ace and his thoughts on sister. :)

32 Weeks

Time is tickin by quicker and quicker to the end of pregnancy and the welcoming of Mae to our family (on the outside!) I'm a nice solid 8 months pregnant and starting on the 9th month.

Mae is quite active and mommy is quite tired - so we're right on schedule for where we should be. :) I've been eating my weight in deviled eggs these days. In fact in the last week I've had a dozen eggs and I'm showing no sign of being 'full' of them so I'm sure to have more. She certainly likes them!

As I mentioned in a previous post Mae has been measuring small. We have another routine appointment on Wednesday and if she's still measuring smaller than the doctor thinks she should be, they'll do an ultrasound to just make sure everything looks fine. Most likely she's just a small little girl. If she were average then as of right now she measures crown to rump 11.8 inches and she weighs between 4.2-4.4 pounds. Her kidneys are fully developed and she is 'rapidly gaining weight.' I'd say I am personally much smaller this time around and I am carrying WAY lower than I did with Ace. The nice thing is that I am still able to wear one pair of 'normal' jeans - they're my 'fat' pants but I can still comfortably button them below the belly... although I feel those days are numbered as she's going to take over soon. :)

Ace is doing great as a big brother - he loves to wear shirts that say 'big brother' on them and even tries to spell 'big' when he has them on. He loves to hug his sister, talk to her, tell her good morning, say prayers for her at night. He's doing great. He's even understanding when mommy's back hurts and is too tired to run around. He tries to take care of me. It's very sweet.

60 Days!

Yep that's right - there are sixty days until Mae's scheduled date of arrival. There are 44 more days of sleep until Christmas is here... Mae is going to be here very soon and the holiday season is gearing up full force now. YIPPEE!!

Mae at the last two doctor's appointments has been measuring small, but growing. No one finds this alarming or troublesome, more just a sign that she will be smaller than her brother (yay!). At 28 weeks I was measuring 27 weeks, and at 30.5 weeks, I was measuring 29 weeks. So she's not too far behind and growth is still happening. They suspect a growth spurt would occur between my 30 and 32 week visit. I think it might have started yesterday!

Yesterday - perhaps subconsciously in honor of '60 days' I made and ate 10 deviled eggs... when you count the fact that I mash a whole hard boiled egg in with the other yolks to make the 'deviled' part of them... I ate (in under 15 minutes...) 6 WHOLE EGGS! Yum and I wasn't full... but I ceased eating anyway. Dinner was also an impressive feast with no major fullness either. So hopefully the protein she got will help her grow grow grow! Our next appointment is next Wednesday. So we'll see!

Mae has started to have hiccups on a regular basis and I love them. They're so rythmic and they also help reassure me that she's already head down - although she still is occasionally trying to be transverse and MAN does that hurt! Ouchie! Overall she's being pretty nice to me. By this time in my pregnancy with Ace my rib had been permanently reshaped from his kicks. Mae wedges herself under mine on occasion and I have to push her out. It's not the most comfortable, but it's not the worst either. :)

Ace regularly comes up and wants to see Mae, hug her, kiss her, and tell us he loves his sister. It's very sweet and I continue to pray that he is equally as excited as when she is here. Hoping that I can continue to maintain the energy level that I have now through the remainder of the pregnancy but we'll see! Weight gain has been steady and not too excessive, swelling has been minimal and usually is only first thing in the morning in my hands and feet. Can't really complain!

Looking forward to the next 2 months. Less than 9 weeks to go!!

Mae's NW Shower

Today was my shower for Mae in the Northwest and I was so glad that I was able to celebrate with close friends. My best friend Becky flew up to celebrate my birthday and in addition to doing that she was able to celebrate Mae with me at this shower as well. My dear friend Vanessa was again a wonderful hostess with some excellent games and fun had by all. Thank you, Vanessa for a wonderful event!

 Mae received many wonderful things again. We were blessed with clothes, diapers, a new diaper genie (yay!) blankets and much more! Ace was so thrilled to help open presents, he couldn't wait to tear into them - and then he enjoyed playing with them as well.

28 Weeks - Third Trimester

We have entered the final round of this pregnancy! The third trimester has arrived! Yipee! And wow that was fast in retrospect. :) Seven months pregnant and working on the eighth. Certainly feeling bigger and more winded!

Mae is a mover and a squirmer and less of a kicker (to date) than her brother. Ace used to get into one spot and kick over and over - whereas Mae is content to swim and when she gets stuck she uses an elbow, a heel, a knee... something SHARP to dislodge herself and continue her flip. OUCH! I'm not sure which I prefer... but at least she's going to have to cease a lot of that pretty soon as she's going to run out of room to make laps in there. Yes, Baby's crown to rump length is about 10.2 inches. Which is about the size of amusement park cinnamon-sugar-coated churro. Baby weighs about 2.4-2.75 pounds. She is about 2/3rds of the size that she will be if she goes full term. Her eyes now have color, and she can blink her eyes some now, and regulate her own temperature a bit.

Nesting has been quite a big event in the last few weeks around here. In the last week I have painted, built furniture, even pruned one of our trees outside - in addition to all other standard household tasks. I'm starting to run out of steam, but somehow keep going! It's amazing - my house will be sad when we're done with this pregnancy. :) Ace is super jazzed that he's able to play in his sister's room now, loves that he can play with his toys in there and often brings books in there because he wants to 'give this one to sister' :)

We've entered into the phase starting this week that I will be seeing the doctor every other week. We saw her two weeks ago and Mae's heart rate was 148bpm. That's the highest it's been to date - but still lower than her brother's average. Funny since the wives's tale is that the lower beats per minute indicate boy... Ace and Mae both defy that theory. :) I've had my glucose test and no gestational diabetes for me and the other test is normal (forget which one that is... but it's normal!) I am however still low on iron... which I have been for weeks now but I only gave in now and agreed to take the Slow FE daily. I'm not a huge fan of taking the extra iron, but I'll do it - since iron now is very good to help brain growth.

Now time for the pictures.

Uh oh where'd he go!?

He's very excited to meet his sister who comes 'after Christmas' :)There he is!

24 Weeks

6 months pregnant! I've been feeling really good lately - I am still able to pick Ace up with no issue and I can holding as well I ever am able to. :) In fact I spent Monday at Disneyland all day and walked around and stood for a long time and didn't feel that I needed to stop any extra than usual. The belly is ever expanding and more weight is going on me and baby (4oz in a week!) both - I can feel it - but that's ok!

Baby Mae is about the size of a ear of corn (8.7 inches) and weighs almost 1.5lbs. Right now her brain is developing rapidly - need to eat more Omega-3s, leafy green veggies, and protein! And things to stimulate those smarts! :) Our baby girl also stands a fighting chance now (about 50%) if she were born this minute. We're obviously hopeful and confidant that she's sticking right where she is for now. Her lungs are developing branches, her eyes are completely developed.

She is quite a squirmer in the evenings - at the moment she still likes to be lower rather than higher in the kicking department - having had Ace in my ribs/lungs kicking me all the time - I'm not sure which is preferable. I think the ribs/lungs FEEL more resilient -so I might have to go with that. I suspect she'll move upward as her space begins to lessen. :)

Ace has been doing great getting ready to be a big brother. He's been helping me clean out her room (formally the office and dumping ground of all things that have no home.) We'll be painting it soon after we get home from California. I'm sure he'll be happy to help do that. He loves to come over and say 'hi' to the baby by rubbing my tummy, and often talks about my stomach moving (regardless if it is) it's great he's so interested in his new sister.

We are all healthy and happy - and I'm enjoying my numbered days in the honeymoon stage! :)

Grum was right!

About what? Well we had our gender ultrasound on Friday, and we found out that our little one growing happily inside is in fact A GIRL! We couldn't be more thrilled and happy... but how is my grandmother right? Well, rewind nearly 2.5 years ago when we had our last gender ultrasound and found out Ace was a boy. I called my grandma to tell her that we were having a boy! We were excited, thrilled, and happy! The first thing out of my grandma's mouth (while she was all of those things!) was "That's ok, the next one will be a girl." Yes, the FIRST thing she said was to inform me that the next one would be a girl... and then of course she congratulated me on a healthy baby boy on the way. :) But I never forgot that and it kind of is bittersweet now that she's no longer here to hear the good news... but I love that she was right! :)
Our little girl is growing and healthy just as she should be. Her heart looks great, her brain is growing and developing as it should, and all her organs are working and functioning. She was modest at times, but she did her job and let us verify that she really is a she! :) Her heartbeat was 138bpm, the calmest either of our babies' heartbeats have ever been! She does love to wave at the camera though. :)

I personally have only gained 8lbs so far. With Ace at this stage in the pregnancy I had gained 15lbs. :) So having a toddler is certainly keeping those extra pounds off, hehe. We discovered that the placenta is over the front of my stomach, but that's nothing more than noted. Since I did not have a c-section with Ace, then it is a non issue with my second pregnancy. However, it does explain why I didn't feel her until later in the pregnancy whereas many second pregnancies women report feeling the baby as early as 14 weeks. I didn't feel her until 17 weeks. But she has some adorable feet and legs to kick me with - and she is a squirmer now!

She's still small enough right now that she can do lots of flips and circling around in there, so she enjoyed flipping over and around throughout the ultrasound, which was fun to be able to watch her movements. :) It was great to see her! We are hoping to see her again in a few weeks, as we're hoping to be able to do a 3D ultrasound closer to the due date. Just have to see if it will be covered by insurance.

20 Weeks - Half Way!

Yay! The half way mark! So excited that I am now half way through this pregnancy. It hasn't been too bad thus far - the morning sickness was less than pleasant - but it's over so that's fine :) I survived! We are officially entering the beginning of the 6th month of pregnancy. We are 20 weeks away from being an official family of four!

From this point forward, baby will put most of her (or his) energy into gaining weight and, apparently, so will I! Loving Husband is also doing his part. ;-) Hopefully, Ace will as well! So far I have gained 10lbs. Right now baby weighs approximately 10½ ounces and is about 7 inches long, about the size of a can of Red Bull or a cantaloupe. Interesting difference in comparisons there. :)

If this baby is a boy, the testes have begun descending from the pelvis into the scrotum. If it's a girl, her uterus is completely formed and the rest of her "parts" are in development. Won't s/he love that I'm sharing all this when s/he's 15 years old? haha.

And now for the belly fun!