On Nov 14th, I was 38wks and 1 day pregnant and had my weekly OB exam. At that point, I finally started dilating and was at 3 cm. I was still thinking that I was probably not going to be going into labor early (since I was at 1.5 cm for 2 wks with no progress) and I had to plan on living 2 more wks with my acid reflux, back pain and lack of sleep. That night around midnight, we went to triage for possible water break. I didnt really feel the "gush" that is typically described, but I was a bit suspicious and they said I did have a small leak in my waterbag and that I had to be admitted. Because of the water break, the risk of infection becomes higher as time goes on, so I was induced with pitocin. When I went to triage, I wasnt really feeling painful contractions so before getting induced, they wanted to see if things would progress on my own without medications. I went for 2+ hours trying various relaxing positions and breathing techniques to get through the awfully painful contractions without relief. I found out that after all the pain, I was still at 3 cm and wasnt ready to see what 8 cm felt like so I requested an epidural. After the epidural, pitocin was started and within 4-5 hours, I was 9 cm dilated and almost ready to push.

I pushed for about 45 minutes and out came Hannah, our precious baby girl. She was 6 lbs 9 oz and 18 in so fairly "small" although my body felt like it was hit by a car the next day....

She had some jaundice in the beginning so we were making pediatrician visits on a daily visit for the first week and she even required a "bililight" a piece of rectangular plastic with fluorescent light that needs to contact as much of her skin as possible to help get rid of the high levels of bilirubin. That was fun. It made a fussy baby even fussier!

So Hannah is now 2.5 wks old now and is over 7lbs. woo hoo! cant believe she's still here. She's adorable while sleeping cause she makes these crazy faces and expressions with her mouth. But during diaper changes, she cries like we're going to kill her. It's hard on the ears. Poor Cleo (the cat), she has been pretty patient with Hannah around. G and I are still trying to figure out the best sleep cycle for her which is not as easy as it sounds. I also developed carpal tunnel in both hands after labor which makes all baby tasks just that much harder. It's all a learning process, but we're grateful to have family help / support and that Hannah is a healthy baby girl!

Im officially in the clear at 37+ weeks. The interview last week went well and since last friday, Ive been offered and accepted the position at Kaiser in SJ. I guess the preggers status didnt bother anyone...and it shouldnt since Im obviously about to burst.

Since the last blog, I the babys head has dropped lower so I no longer have the low back/pelvic pain, but the bathroom trips have increased even more so the "sleep" at night is never a restful one. I was hoping baby G would have progressed since my last visit, but she's been 80% effaced  and 1.5 cm dilated for over a week without much progress. I guess she's not ready to make her grand entrance yet. We thought she was going to arrive really early so we have the baby room all set up. Guess its better to be ready early than rush at the end.

In terms of belly size, everyone at work said my belly just "popped out" over the past week or so but at this point, I just feel big and can't imagine that my belly will get even bigger! It's hard working while waddling around and getting false contractions and peeing all the time... *sigh* wish I had more time off....

35 weeks:

37 weeks:

32 weeks

35 weeks

Im almost 35 weeks preggers and Im feeling it. The last few weeks have been tough on my joints, particularly the back and pelvic joints. Ive been limping around work and the house on occasion and its been especially hard sleeping comfortably at night...between the bathroom trips and back pain. Ive also been feeling lots of false contractions that have been more and more uncomfortable, feeling like low belly cramps. The docs just say that my uterus is just preparing itself...as long as I dont go into labor early!! I have a job interview next week (at 36 wks) so I hope Ill make it through that alright.

I had a wonderful baby shower this past weekend thanks to my favorite girlfriends and my awesome sister. It was so much fun.

Otherwise, G and I have the baby room all set up with the basics and we're just tidying up the house as much as possible before our lives totally change!;) We're also testing out the equiptment on Cleo...

Im about 31 weeks right now and getting bigger and bigger every week. Everyone says Im "small" for 31 weeks, but I feel far from small. My feet and back both hurt. I can feel the 15 lb weight gain through my entire body. And now, the cute kicks have become an elbow or fist scraping against the inside of my belly...not the most comfortable feeling. I swear, she's trying to punch her way out. So, sleep now has been pretty diffuicult given the frequent trips to the bladder and all the baby movements along with back pain. Cant believe we have about 2 months to go. theres so much to do to prepare!!

27 wks:                                                                  28 wks:

29 wks:                                                                    31 weeks:

4

So far, the pregnancy has been pretty good. I have been feeling some weird cramps and my belly tightening up but not much pain. I guessed that these were "false contractions" AKA Braxton- Hicks. I vaguely remember learning all about them in med school, but that seems like eons ago so I finally went to the hospital just to be safe. And yup, everything was fine and this is apparently normal. I guess people can experience them as early as the 16th week and I just started feeling them over the past week. Im now about 261/2 weeks along. Yikes...3 more months and this living creature in my belly is going to come out... it's just so crazy, amazing and scary...all at the same time!

We still havent come up with a name yet. So far, the name is "Baby G"- G for Gerald, not cause we're considering a "G" name at this point We're just so indecisive...any suggestions would be great!;)

My belly is growing fairly slow, which is good at preventing those stretch marks, but the last week or two, I have noticed it exponentially getting bigger. I can't imagine getting any bigger. My feet ache from the extra pounds Ive put on and I have sciatica on occasion, but my back is holding up so far!

Here is me and my belly at 15 wks:

At 26 weeks:

and 26.2 weeks in Napa this weekend: