Anthony is here!

That's right, my little baby made it into this world. He did it on his own time, and I'm ok with that. Alright, I did push extra hard to get him out by the end of the 16th - early Christmas present for his Great-Granny :)

8 lb. and 2 oz., 21 inches long

Checked into the hospital a night early for unusual problems and was given the choice to be released for a few hours prior to my induction. Came back and checked in, started pitocin as planned, doctor broke my water, labored for several hours unaided by drugs. He wasn't progressing at all so in order to increase the pitocin as much as was needed, they highly recommended I take the epidural. I did. I labored for 10 1/2 more hours. Total of 18 1/2 hours by that time already. Then we started pushing. They told me it could take 1-2 hours or more to push him out, but I did it in about 20 minutes :) I was REALLY ready to meet him.

Birth was not what I expected. That part was easy...it's afterward that has its tough times. I LOVE this little guy to pieces of course, and I can't wait to see what new joys each day brings. I'll try to post updates when I can, but obviously we're exhausted.

Almost Time!

This is my last blog post before I become a mommy! We went back to the doctor on Monday, and we haven't made any real progress on our own still so it was decided that the best thing to do is have an induction tomorrow before he cooks any longer. That will put him at 10 days overdue. Bless him, he just doesn't want to come out!

Tomorrow is my grandmother's birthday, and she would be delighted to share this birthday with her first great-grandchild. I know because she mentioned it to me when I first told her I was pregnant. She jokingly said that I should "hold him in" until her birthday because Grandad already gets to share his birthday with cousin Meredith. I told her that I wouldn't be holding any baby inside once he gets ready to come out! But it seems he just wasn't ready. I hope he's ready tomorrow. It's weird, I feel guilty for kicking him out, but I also know it's dangerous for him to go too long.

Here are pictures from Saturday when I was about 41 weeks




Today I've been biting my nails a bit and thinking about what's to come in less than a day. I'll be checking into a hospital, and I won't be leaving until I have my little boy in my arms. I've waited so long, yet it went by so fast at the same time. Individual days dragged out for an eternity, but the pregnancy as a whole flew by.

These last 2 1/2 weeks I've been working from home, and my only companions all day are my cats. They've been snuggly little helpers that keep me happy and entertained (the hours they can spend chasing a milk cap - amazing). I'll miss the little goobers when I'm in the hospital. Here's part of their big contribution to society today...

Ares


Maximus


I'll be sure to put up some photos (and maybe a few details) of our little boy when we get home!

No News

I've been MIA for about 2 weeks now, and while I'd like to say that the lack of news is because we got our little boy...I can't say that. Because we're still waiting. We're 4 days overdue, and that phrase makes me a little nuts. It didn't the first day, but the last 3 have been a little tougher. Like they're lasting foreeeever. Everyone keeps telling me that I should enjoy this time and relax before he gets here, but I'm too uncomfortable to take these luxurious naps they speak of. Not to mention, I'm still working. Working at home is still working!

I need to take some pictures of my over due belly, but here is one taken 11 days ago when I was 39 weeks



When I got out to do some shopping the other day, Anthony finally let me get him some new jeans. If you know him then you know this is almost impossible. He doesn't care for new clothes at all. I got him bending over, but in this lovely position you can see that there are no torn belt loops, the bottoms aren't ripped to shreds, and all of the blue hasn't been washed out of the denim. The rest of the jeans in his wardrobe are another story.



Here's something I'm really excited about, Christmas! And Christmas ornaments! I get really psyched to add a new ornament to the tree each year, typically reflective of what's happened to us over the past year. We have an engaged ornament and this year was going to be the "we're married" ornament, but we got pregnant RIGHT after we got married so rather than choose one of those life events, I decided to get a family ornament. This cute little sucker makes me realize how far we've come this year. And...it's just adorable. Love love love it! Can't wait for my own little snow baby!