Russ's dad got to meet his new grand daughter last night. She was kind enough to stay awake during the entire visit and didn't even fart!
Russ's sister and her kids came down to meet Cecily too; Ed had taken Sarah and Aaron to Kansas City with him to Barbara's Annual Celebration and they needed to be transferred back to mom, so everyone decided to meet at our house and come see Lily in the process.
Yesterday was a fair day, as far as my recovery and our sanity. Cecily continues to be a content baby, feeding almost regularly now (she's determined her own schedule), and she's transitioned properly as far as diaper deposits go.
I managed to get a good deal of laundry 1/2 done, eat almost three actual meals (and warm ones too, thanks to my mom), and our midwife came to see us and check on Cecily.
Our Lily has successfully regained her birth weight plus a few ounces, her jaundice is quickly fading, she routinely drowns herself with milk (we're working on how to balance all the feeding stuff out), and managed to get her feet printed last night and it looks like she only has 4 toes on her left because she tucks her 2nd toe behind her big toe all the time and it didn't get printed.
She's sleeping about 2-4 hours at a time through the night and about 2 hours at a time during the daylight hours. She's wonderful and mom's been here to help (especially at night) so Russ and I are not losing our minds due to lack of sleep. We're tired, sure, but not so out of it that we can't function.
Cecily seems to really like sleeping on her tummy or side, while lying on my chest (or Russ's). She does a fairly good job in her in-bed sleeper too, but she's most content lying either on top of one of us or in the crook of an arm. Grandma has been kind enough to keep Lily with her for a few hours each night too and I understand they like sleeping next to each other as well.
She sleeps calmly, squeaks every once in a while, has miniature explosions quite regularly (and sleeps through most of them), wakes to feed (and latches on very well in spite of my pain), and spends a good amount of time just looking around, making faces or mimicking ours, and simply being adorable.
Mom's going home tonight so it will up to be just Russ and I to keep our Lilybug happy, along with our Lala (London) and bullfrog (Rue). The jury is still out as far as how they feel about the addition and changes around here. London is behaving much like the Nana dog in Peter Pan (and that's exactly what we expected) and Rue just pouts a lot and does his best to get our direct attention. We haven't been able to lavish attention on just them like they're accustomed but we are able to actively bring them into our activities. They both camp out on our bed (and that makes 5), they crash on the couch next to whomever is sitting still long enough to lay a chin on, they're getting fed properly (though Rue will perpetually disagree), and they routinely sniff and curiously watch Lily and her many random movements and squeaks.
It's pretty cute around here this week.
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Comments coming soon...
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Cecily has arrived!
7lbs, 20"
2pm
October 18, 2007
For more pictures, please click here
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274 days... and I've had heartburn for 250 of those 274 days. And if you look at the first picture I took of me in May, I actually had abs! See.. look! They're there! They better still be there.
My midwife has left for Florida this morning and doesn't return until Friday so if the kid decides to show up today/tomorrow/Friday, we'll be assisted by my midwife's midwife.
Russ needs to finish up the song he wrote for her and we're trying to finish the little bit of cleaning and preparation left so that the day she decides to arrive we can pretend we're ready and set about distracting me.
We are still set to have her birth occur in our home. The pregnancy has been very smooth and with the exception of MY personal experience, according to those around me, everything has been just peachy!
I, however, am unable to drive without hitting my stomach on the wheel. Can't sit normal, can't lie on my left without getting heartburn, can't lie on my back (even propped up) because she's too heavy, can't lie on my right because I fell in the shower the other day and now have a bruise on my left butt cheek the size of the moon. So, I sleep standing up, pacing, thinking about one major task after another, night after night. And Russ thinks he's getting great sleep.. HA - he sleeps through my nightly rantings but he tosses and turns the whole time.
I will be SO happy to have my body back. I run into everything with my stomach, which somehow hurts even though I have roughly no skin sensitivity on the front of my stomach anymore. It is the weirdest thing, my stomach will itch (because it is STILL GROWING) and when I scratch it I have to be very careful not to draw blood with my own fingernails because I can't feel myself scratching my own stomach.
I think everyone interested has managed to experience her kick or shove her butt under their hand now at least once.. I'll miss that feeling, except when she shoves hard enough to hurt me. It started out like a fart inside my stomach that I didn't have control over and now it's just a welcome sensation, until both heels go into my sternum, or both feet kick my sides (opposite sides) at the same time. I have to move her sometimes because she is so out of room that the only way I can tolerate her stretching is to either reposition her or drop to my hands and knees and just let her drop to the front of my stomach. Lately she has taken to pushing her feet toward my chin while pushing her head down as low as she can. Needless to say, the internal sensations are becoming memorable.
I'll upload a pic of my now drooping belly later today.
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Russ managed to capture a few pictures of me this morning with the cell phone. I expect to actually sit for a proper photo before this is all over with (given I don't run out of time), but until then, these little snapshots are great!
I think we're going to grab the video camera sometime this weekend and take some video of her moving around, while still on the inside. She follows our hands/warmth around and we're going to experiment with a flashlight next. {Russ got to feel her chase his hand around a few morning's ago for a good 5 minutes.}
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Latest News: She's still on her way!
Between hiccups and knees in my ribs (feet too sometimes), my belly is a dancing bubble that catches the attention of both people and dog alike.
The other day, I was sitting on the couch and London was lying next to me. My stomach started jumping, as it often does in the mid-afternoon and it caught London's eye this time. She watched the movement much like she watches a moth flop around our kitchen; very intense, very accurately observing the movement. Then, she decided to start sniffing and licking my stomach where the movement was most obvious. I wonder what she was thinking (though, if you know London, this is a common question).
I'm tired again... needing naps half way through the day.
I'm still working with the teen driving school and doing alright, but getting in/out of a car, much less riding in it for a couple hours straight is starting to make me nuts. I'm also still giving piano lessons, but I think I may suspend that soon. I suppose I could continue until she arrives, but I'm just getting to the point where I don't want to have any expectations or requirements of my time. I need to be able to drop and fall asleep at any given time.
All my blood work and other misc preggo tests have come back either in perfect order or negative (which is the preferred result). So, my pregnancy continues to proceed with little effort and no concerns. I don't get much sleep at night and I'm uncomfortable most of the time, but we're hanging in there.
Russ is doing well - he's keeping up with my many requests for me to not cook dinner or do dishes. My hands have been numb since about the 4th month and it's gotten increasingly more painful and annoying. At first, I think I pinched a nerve in my neck, but that soon led to swelling and now I wonder if I don't have a slight case of carpal tunnel as well. I can't write (with a pen), can't use a fork, and don't have much strength to grasp anything.
So, we are continuing our daily routine, with subdued anticipation. Neither of us are sure what to think with all the change this year has brought us. We're both rather bewildered and just sorta hangin' on for the ride at this point. It will truly be an interesting reflection for us once she's here. I suspect our music and writings will become a significant aspect of how we spend our time, somehow.
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Today is my parents' 35th anniversary. I think my mom managed the day off work and they went for a picnic. This will be their last anniversary as non-grandparents. I wonder how 35 years feels.
Russ and I celebrated our 10th this year, at the gardens. He remembered to bring the mosquito spray this time, but I forgot to leave my stomach at home. We'd originally hoped to travel abroad for this anniversary, but alas, another little person had a different idea, it would seem.
I'm just getting beyond being so tired all the time. My back hurts a lot (mostly due to fatigue) and I am in full maternity tops and jeans a few sizes larger than before. (I did buy one pair of maternity jeans, but I still prefer the low-rise/hip hugger juniors jeans - just have had to go up a FEW sizes.)
I've gained a good amount of weight in the first 20 weeks, though the gain seems to be leveling off a bit now. You can see in the pic how she's modified my profile. It will be interesting to see just how big I get.
If you're interested in images from our trip to the gardens, click here click here and if you want to see more ultrasound pics of her, click this link.
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More later... must stop the burning
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This is the first picture I've actually taken of my growing belly...
I think my clothes stopped fitting about week 7, but sweats are still reliable.
More later...
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We had a second ultrasound done today because I started to bleed last week.
Everything is fine; I just have a delicate cervix.
We can't tell for sure whether it's a boy/girl yet, but Russ and I both are sure it's a girl. What do you think?
I have had a dream about her, and Russ has definitely voiced his desire for a little girl.
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