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Friday, October 31, 2008
Peeper Update - From Whozat!
First: Thank you all so much for your comments, well-wishes, and such.
Peeper is still in the hospital, and Shrike and I are still staying there with her, but we've come home for a couple of hours to shower and get clean clothes for us all.
Which involved figuring out what pants fit me now, and digging through Peep's dresser for anything "newborn" size - which is still likely to be too big; the preemie size seems to fit her just right.
Of course, I'll blog about the details, my birth story, and our whole experience once we're all home and recovered and have time, but I wanted to give a quick update, and post a few photos from the actual camera (not the cell phone).
As LadyKay alluded to in her update (expect more new via her til we're all home), we spent all day yesterday trying to keep Peeper awake long enough to eat.
Once her bilirubin started coming down, she's perked up a lot. I'm pumping and so far, we've only had to give her a tiny bit of formula, mostly to "top off."
While Shrike and I are at home today, Peeper is getting one full meal of formula (which Shrike's mom was going to give her right after we left).
This meal is formula because in the wee hours last night, she took 35 cc at one feeding, then 45 cc at the next. Her "required amount" is 25 cc within 30 minutes per feeding, so I was hard put to complain about her eating up her next meal that was "in the bank" before I could make more!
When we left, I'd just finished pumping 30 cc for her next meal, so I'm back "ahead" of her, and when we get back, I will nurse her (as much as she will) and give her what's already pumped and then pump for the next meal.
Over all, the three of us are holding up pretty well. Shrike and I are trying our best to sleep between feedings, and the nurses and her family are taking great care of us.
It is frustrating that things are not happening the way we'd planned, and I'm post-partum hormonal, so it's all the more difficult to deal, but we certainly do recognize how very, very, very lucky we are that she's doing so well and that the eating/jaundice are the only concerns, given her size and prematurity.
The doctors keep telling us what a healthy baby she is, just young and tiny, but doing very well considering that she's not supposed to be here for another twenty-five days!
Thank you again for all your well-wishes, thoughts, prayers, good vibes, positive energy and healthy-baby-mojo - not just in these past few days, but throughout my pregnancy, and even before.
LadyKay will continue to post updates, and I'll give the full report when we're all home and rested up a bit.
Update
Hi, actually this is Ladykay, Whozat asked me to update everyone. I talked her a little while ago and they are doing well. Peeper is struggling a bit with eating, but they are doing a combination of nursing, supplementing with pumped breast milk, etc. Her billiruben has been up so she's been under the billilight, but she is doing better and they are hoping to be done with that tomorrow. Her sucking reflex is actually good when she is awake, but she has been very lethargic, which they think has largely been due to the billiruben issues, so as that is getting better she is waking up more. All in all, for four weeks early she is doing great!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Multimedia message
Water broke 4 am. At hospital. 2 cm. On pitocin. Getting uncomfortable. More news as we have it.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Baby Booty
As promised, here are some photos of our shower gifts.
Gear & Supplies
Accessories: Socks, Hats, Mittens, Bibs, Hair Bows, etc.
Washcloths - Notice that the shark is no longer in his packaging. Shrike insisted on opening it during the shower and playing with it!
Blankies and Swaddlers
Decor and Keepsakes
The red stripey box in the back contains a Democratic Donkey Christmas ornament - in honor of Baby's First Election. The panda banner was handmade by the same friends who make the windsocks. They actually gave her an Obama windsock as well, but it somehow didn't make it into the photo. I thought about putting it up on the house for the next week or so, but I think I will save it for her, in its packaging, so she'll have it as a momento of the historic events that occurred (knock wood!) while she was in utero.
Clothes, newborn - 3 months
Clothes, 3 - 6 months
Clothes, 6 months and up
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Belly Shot 6: 35 Weeks 4 Days - One Month To Go!
Now that we're one calendar month from my due date, I feel pretty justified in referring to myself as "eight months pregnant, " whether I really look it or not.
This is the outfit I wore to the shower today
This is the closest that you're getting to naked-belly shots.
They Like Us, They Really Like Us!
Holy crow, my family is having a fit to hear about the shower and see some loot, aren't they?
Sorry I've not posted sooner, but we've been going nonstop all day long.
First, Shrike's dad arrived around 9 am, followed shortly by her ex-BIL, niece and nephew. The menfolk stayed here to get the crib put together (but weren't able to get the ceiling fan up, because it needs a stronger bracket) and we girls headed off to the shower.
Which was wonderful.
For starters, our friend who was hosting it has a beautiful home (our neice asked her, "Is this house a mansion?") and really knows how to throw a party.
There were between fifteen and twenty people there, and another five or so who were unable to attend sent gifts.
So, yeah, we kind of cleaned up!
There was a really good mix of gifts between registry items and surprises, as well as between too-cute-for-words outfits and nitty-gritty, practical stuff.
Including things from several people who've already gone way above and beyond the call of duty with the giftage, and from whom we certainly weren't expecting anything else: the grandparents, the shower hostess, LiPA, LawyerFriend and his wife, and others.
We took a few pictures of guests at the shower, while everyone was eating, but didn't take any photos of our own during the giftage itself.
The hostess took a bunch with her camera, and has promised to email them all to us. That sounded much easier than trying to show someone all the ins and outs and persnicketinesses of our camera.
I promise that I'm have a big baby-loot-photo-shoot tomorrow, and post them for all to see, but here's a little teaser for now:
About thirty minutes after we came home, Doula K arrived for our supplemental childbirth education session.
She had some really good information for us, and Shrike took lots of notes.
Perhaps we would have looked like better-prepared students (if not better-prepared parents) if she'd not be scribbling them on the back of an envelope, but you know, whatever works.
When we were done with that, we grabbed a bite to eat, and drove to a nearby town to see the Kinsey Sicks in concert.
Suffice it to say that they bill themselves as "American's Favorite Dragapella Beauty Shop Quartet."
They are hilarious, and political, and filthy and incredibly talented and a whole hell of a lot of fun.
After the show, we stopped to get me some food and Shrike a beer, and now we're home.
Quite a day.
Okay, for those of you who are just dying to see some loot, I do have a few photos of a gift that showed up on our doorstep on Thursday.
There was no wrapping - gift, shipping or otherwise - just a big box with photos all over it, of this:
Mr. Panda, taking it for a test-drive:
It even has a little Peeper-Peephole!
So . . . so much for surprises, but there was also no gift card enclosed, so I suppose it's still a bit of a mystery.
But, I'm highly suspicious that it might have come from a certain someone who had given us a heads-up to expect a giant, non-giftwrapped delivery.
(Am I correct, Anonymama?)
Sorry about the whole "Don't open it til Saturday" thing.
I've heard that strollers can be pretty hellish to assemble, so that evening I was telling Shrike that maybe we ought to get some help with it.
She evidently took that as a personal challenge (I believe she used the term "gauntlet"), because when I got home from work yesterday, it was all set up.
(Ah, so my evil plan has succeeded!)
And, she said that it was actually pretty easy to do.
More photos of the other stuff tomorrow - I promise!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Nursery Update
We've taken the glider cushions to a seamstress to be recovered with this panda fabric, which I've mentioned before.
The fabric arrived today, and it is every bit as cute in real life as it is in the photo.
Tomorrow, while we are at the shower, Shrike's dad and ex-brother-in-law are going to come over and finished getting the crib assembled, and we're hoping they'll install the ceiling fan, as well.
I need to do some touch-up painting on the letters for her name, and get those and a few more panda prints up on the walls.
Then, I suppose we'll have to figure out what to do with our haul from the shower.
Other than photograph it to post here, of course.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Babies Come With Gifts
Our shower is on Saturday, and a light sprinkle has already begun.
Shrike and I have both found gifts and cards on our desks at work this week, and little Peeper has already racked up over a hundred bucks in cash and gift cards.
Not a bad gig she's got going, this gettin' ready to get born thing.
The woman who is hosting the shower is someone with whom I work in the local Democratic Party, and so are several of the folks on our guest list. At our annual Fall Dinner on Tuesday, I saw several small pink packages come in, sit around (while I pretended not to notice them) and then go out to her car.
I'm guess those are from folks who won't be able to attend.
(Emily Post, by the way, say that you are not obligated to send a gift to a shower that you're not attending. But we'll forgive them their breech of etiquette.)
Anonymama emailed a few days ago to say that she wanted to send a gift to Hostess' house, but didn't have the address, so she sent it here.
It's too big to gift wrap, so we've been forbidden to open it before Saturday.
Shrike offered to hide it when it arrives. I guess she doesn't trust me.
I have to say that the whole people-giving-us-stuff-left-and-right thing is a little hard to get used to, but it sure is fun!
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Overheard: Goober Edition
A few weeks ago, while working on the guest list for our baby shower (this Saturday!):
Shrike: I don't know about inviting my mom, honey.Whozat: Why not?!?Shrike: Well, it just seems kind of pushy, don't you think?
A message on our answering machine today:
Shrike's Sister: Hey, I might have told you already, but if not, I just wanted to ask you to please call and let me know when Whozat goes into labor.
What the fuck?
Do these people not realize that they are related to each other?
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Overwhelmed
I realized something today. Well, I suppose I've known it for a while, but I just managed to put it into actual words today.
Between work and politics and home and Shrike and preparing for Peeper and planning for paying the bills once Peeper's here and growing Peeper and oh-my-God-Christmas-is-looming, I am doing way too much.
And I'm really not doing any of it very well, at all.
I've somehow managed to get myself on the wrong side of the powers that be at work twice in two days. And I wasn't even there yesterday.
I've got several people taking up slack for things I ought to be doing for this election that's happening in holy-shit-two-weeks.
Shrike's doing pretty much everything around the house (although that's not really news).
We should probably get Peeper's crib assembled, huh? And buy a mattress for it. (I've actually got high hopes for a shower guest coming through with that!) And what's this I hear about packing a bag for the hospital?
I've got things almost arranged to work for Learning Center Online, but the hours they are offering are all while Shrike is at work. How the fuck do I do that?
Last night, I finally did some research and applied for a few other similar positions, but some of them seemed a bit fly-by-night.
And we absolutely must figure out what our Christmas budget is, so we can get crack-a-lackin' on the shopping and get it done before Peeper gets here.
But, you know, blogging and such is a much more productive use of my time than any of that stuff.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Manic Monday #39
- How long does it take you to get out of bed in the morning?
At least thirty minute of snoozing. Shrike hates that. - Do you usually sleep on one side of the bed or another?
I sleep on the left, Shrike is on the right (if we're laying on our backs). - Something you wish to accomplish before the end of the year.
Survive our first month or so of parenting.
Peeper Update: 34 Weeks 6 Days
Update, 8:15 pm: Photos Added
Peeper was pretty well behaved for her non-stress test this morning, once she decided to wake up and perform.
She still wasn't quite as "reactive" as they typically like to see (heart rate increasing with her movements) but she was quite active during the last several minutes, and didn't show any significant decelerations this time. So that's all good.
Lather, rinse, repeat, til Peeper shows up.
Because of scheduling issues, and the doctor being out and confusion as to when I'm supposed to start weekly appointments, I didn't actually see an OB or midwife today, but did have an ultrasound with Dr. Not-Peri.
That ultrasound went very well, and he said that she "looks phenomenal."
(Oh, I'll bet he says that to all the fetuses.)
She got a perfect score of 8/8 on her biophysical profile (2/2 each for movement, tone, breathing and amniotic fluid level) and did lots of dancing around for them.
She was a bit of a trouble-maker (as usual) with all the moving when they were trying to do the Doppler (to check bloodflow) on the little artery in her head and the umbilical cord.
Just as the sonographer got the vessel her sights and started recording, Peeper would either shake her head, "No no no!" or kick the cord around, so she'd have to start over.
That's pretty much what she does every week, though.
We've got some more 3D photos, with her hands all up in her face and mouth again, and I'll post those as soon as they are scanned.
Next week, we'll have an NST on Monday morning, followed by an appointment with a midwife. (That will be a naked visit, at which I'll be screened for Group B Strep.)
Then I'll see Dr. Peri on Wednesday for an ultrasound.
Lather, rinse, repeat, til Peeper shows up.
And here's our little girlie:
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Peeper's Pad: Progress
We've still got lots more to do, but I started getting things up on the walls in Peeper's room yesterday.
Good thing, too, since everybody at the Halloween party wanted to see how it was coming along!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Halloween: Our Costumes
Shrike was a construction worker and Peeper & I were a construction zone, including the nearby exits. 
One of the things we bought for the kids to play with was a package of little capsules that dissolve in water and expand to reveal sponge monsters.
I didn't really understand what was happening here, but I think Shrike was trying to scare Peeper by puttting the monsters on her?
Halloween Party - The Food
The whole spread
Spooky punch (orange sherbert, orange juice, ginger ale)
Candy corns and pumpkins, cheesy pigs in blankets, with barbecue sauce, pickles, crackers
M&Ms, cheesy pigs in blankets with homemade honey mustard, candy corn
Punch, chips, cheese & olives, M&Ms, pigs in blankets, candy corn, peanuts
Brownies, pigs in blankets, candy corn, peanuts, more candy corn, more pigs, chips, pretzels, Anonymama's cheese ball
Pigs, cheeseball, crackers, cookies, pickles, more crackers, cheese & olives
M&Ms, cheesy pigs in blankets with homemade honey mustard, candy corn
Punch, chips, cheese & olives, M&Ms, pigs in blankets, candy corn, peanuts
Brownies, pigs in blankets, candy corn, peanuts, more candy corn, more pigs, chips, pretzels, Anonymama's cheese ball
Pigs, cheeseball, crackers, cookies, pickles, more crackers, cheese & olives
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