18 days old - posting well over due

Sorry this is going to be so short, but I felt like I had to at least post something so people aren't left wondering what the heck happened.

In case you haven't yet heard, baby Henry Theodore Pieper Rehbein was born at 12:16 am on Saturday, August 11th. He weighed 6 lbs 1 oz and measured 19 3/4 inches. The pediatrician who evaluated him deemed him "perfect, just perfect." We tend to agree. :)

I'll post more soon with regard to how the whole thing shook down (it was quite a surprise), Baby H's first days/weeks, his first time peeing on dad, and his first projectile poop, but I first wanted to get a few pics out there.

  

I'll be ending this blog (when I have some time) and starting a new one to chronicle Baby H's first year.  Please look for the new site shortly!

40 weeks, 0 days - Happy Due Date to me!

I'm not really sure what I expected but I did kind of think today would be special somehow.  That it would feel different.  Why?  I don't know.  It's the due date.  The day we've been waiting for and planning toward for nine months.  Knowing full well that it's not an appointment or anything, I still thought something would feel different.  It doesn't.  Turns out, when the baby doesn't come, the due date is just another day.  Though, it is a day I will buy myself some gelatto or cake or something.  Some sort of celebratory something or other to mark the fact that we've come this far.  I still just can't believe we're at the due date.  It feels so surreal.

All in all, I don't feel any different than I did several weeks ago, so I am still holding strong to the thought that baby will be significantly late.  In fact, now I think that I'm going to have to be induced because I haven't had any signs at all.  I realize that you don't have to have signs that it's coming up, but based on the stories I've read, it seems like most people do.  Maybe that's misleading.  But now I'm thinking baby is not going to come on his/her own and we'll end up scheduling it.  I guess we'll find out soon.  :)

39 weeks, 6 days - New Baby's Eve

Ok, so I think we know that today is not really New Baby's Eve so much as it is Due Date Eve, but still.  EGADS!  TOMORROW IS OUR DUE DATE!!  I cannot believe it's tomorrow.  We've waited and planned and thought so much toward that particular day that it feels... really weird.  Again, I know that ole Lumpy didn't make an appointment to appear tomorrow or anything, but we've used that date for planning purposes for such a long time now that it just feels so bizarre that it's finally here.

Speaking of finally here, Aunt Stevie finally made it to DC.  She's been bebopping around the city, visiting monuments and navigating the metro system.  I wish I didn't have to work so I could take her around to my favorite spots (especially since I'm generally too tired at night to do anything), but there's enough to do and the city is welcoming enough that I think she'll have a fine time by herself.  Unfortunately, she came after we moved all of the furniture so she's been sleeping on the couch but at least there's still a couch for her to sleep on.

Back to baby: I feel ready.  It's funny.  If you'd asked me this past weekend, I'd have said that I was emotionally ready for Baby to come, but wanted him/her to hold off a bit yet.  I don't feel that way anymore. Yes, there are still a number of tasks to complete in the house but somehow, they seem manageable.  I guess it was really just getting the logistical arrangements of moving my stuff, moving the Toyota, and getting the new car that made me feel unprepared.  Now I feel ready for baby to come.  He/she can still take his/her time since the longer it takes him/her, the longer I continue to have a job and an income, but I'd really like to meet this squirmy little nugget and find out what his/her name is and what he/she looks like.  So soon!

39 weeks, 4 days - Really getting real

Matt was up again this past weekend.  We got the new car and sent my Toyota down to Atlanta, along with the steam cleaner, plants, and few other odds and ends that were left behind in the big move.  Jeremy came over on Saturday and helped clean and patch holes.  NOW things seem real.  The house still isn't as empty as you'd expect it to be considering we've now moved me out of there twice.  There are still some fans that will get thrown out, a couch that Shirley is going to take, food and clothes that I'm using until I leave and a bunch of stuff that the Lumpinator may need before we get him/her to Atlanta.  But otherwise, life has moved from home to Atlanta.  New home.  It feels really weird.  It's nice to have the new car; it's fancy and nice and what not but it was really sad to watch Matt drive away with my little Toyota.  That made everything seem so very real.  I don't know why that one event was so much more real than watching the moving truck drive away, but it was.  Baby is due in three days and I get emotional about watching an eight-year old car drive away.  So silly.

It is weird, though, to think about how much is changing in the next couple of weeks.  Aside from having a new baby and becoming a mom, I'm changing cities, houses, jobs, and cars.  I'm moving away from my friends and farther from my family to a place where the only people I know are my partner's family.  My doctors will be new and I'll have to learn where everything is all over again.  It's just an awful lot of change all at once.  Sometimes I think it would have been better to have moved down there six months ago, but then I wouldn't have been able to work with my doctors and what would I have done about my job?  I guess I'm just getting nervous and anxious.  Excited to meet you, Baby, but super anxious about everything else surrounding your arrival.

39 weeks, 1 day - If I were a Megan...

As I was going through my calendar last night, I came to a very interesting realization: if I were Megan, I'd be going into labor last night and meeting the Lumpmeister today.  It was a very startling realization.  Megan went to the doctor eight days before her due date and was told that she was 0 cm dilated, so they weren't expecting Baby Zane for awhile yet.  She went into labor the next day and delivered six days before her due date.  Today, I am six days from my due date.  Saw the doctor on Thursday and heard that I was 0 cm dilated and so we're expecting the Lump to stay put for awhile.  But if I was a Megan...

Really startling realization.  I know that our due date is next week, but to put it in the perspective of friends' experiences... it's just... wow.  My boss's daughter delivered the day before her due date, I think Derek's baby came on her due date, and Mika is still pregnant the day after.  It really is any time now!  Aaah!!  So exciting!

p.s. I don't have a mirror anymore, so I can't post a belly pic (cuz I can't take one).  I'll have Matt take one when he's here tomorrow, but there's not a whole lot of change from the last one I posted.

39 weeks, 0 days - No boot or impending labor?

Wow.  It felt really weird to type "39 weeks."  I simply cannot believe we're this close to our due date!  Next week!  Egads!

If you've been following the blog, you'll know that I got my boot off yesterday.  And I absolutely could not believe what a difference it made in my energy level.  After work, I went to the grocery store, chatted with my mom, washed some dishes, made a big ole salad and stayed up until TEN o'clock!  And then, I felt great when I got up this morning, if you can believe that!  I know I sure couldn't.  I thought for sure I'd be paying for it today.  But nope; I'm still feeling spry and full of energy.  Assuming it's because I got my boot off, I took a walk during my lunch break and took the stairs up and down from the 5th floor here at work.  Man, I had not realized how heavy that stupid boot was or how funny it was making me walk until I no longer had to wear it.  I feel like a new woman.

-- or --

I just got my weekly update from thebump.com and it listed the signs and symptoms that labor is near.  Wouldn't you know that "a burst of energy" is one of the signs of impending labor.  They mention it specifically to remind you to be careful not to use up that energy because it's designed to give you enough oomph to make it through labor.  They talked about that in our labor and delivery class but both Matt and I had completely forgotten about it.  I think our instructor described it as more of a "nesting instinct" kicking in, but she described having extra energy and too warned not to exhaust yourself during that time because you'll need that energy to get through labor.  Hmm...

So.  Was the boot really that heavy and awkward?  Or is this the "labor is near" burst of energy?  I guess we'll find out before too long!  Weird.

P.s. for those of you who are curious, the other signs I'm supposed to watch for (according to thebump.com) are bloody show, the passing of the mucous plug, diarrhea, nausea, energy spurts, contractions, and breaking of the water. Doesn't all that sound fun? Yeesh.

38 weeks, 6 days - Dr. Appointment & Baby Pool

Well, the doctor appointments ended with good, better, and best news!  The good news is that I am 0 cm dilated and 0% effaced.  Which means Baby -- whom I have now re-named ole Lumpy -- is likely comfy and cozy and hopefully not going anywhere for a while yet.  I know many women are chomping at the bit at this point, but we still have quite a bit of stuff to get done before ole Lumpy comes so I'm happy with that news.  My blood pressure is still great and the weight fluctuation continues.  I'm down two pounds from last week, but I suspect it's the scale.  Back when I still had a bedroom scale, I'd weigh myself at home every morning before I went to the doctor.  One scale consistently weighed me heavier than the other.  Anyway, last week's scale was the heavy one and this week's was the lighter.  Two weeks ago, I was weighed on the lighter scale and I'm up one pound from that one, so I feel like that's a better measure of actual progress.  As I keep mentioning, though, the doctors aren't worried about it, so I'm not either.  I just wanted to drop that info for those of you guessing on baby's size.  I can't believe we're going to find out so so soon!

The better news is that, so long as I'm still pregnant at the time, I'll have a sonogram on 8/10 which means that Aunt Stevie will be there for it!  I think that will be fun for her.  I'm not sure if she's ever seen a sonogram or not, but the sonogram tech at my doctor's office is wonderful and will for sure show us whatever we want to see, whether it be face or spine or thigh bones or stupid little rib kicking feet.  I would think that would be awfully fun for someone who is interested in nursing as a career.  Not to mention that it's her little niece or nephew that she'll be seeing for the first time.  Let's hope she's gracious enough not to rub it in Nana Deb's face that she got to see the Lumpster first.  :)

The BEST news, though, is that as of 9:30 this morning, I am officially boot free!  Woo-hoo!!  After Lumpy's appointment, I saw the orthopedic doctor about my foot.  He asked me how I was feeling and I told him that I hated the stupid boot and that I was really hoping to not have to wear it anymore.  He squished my foot a bit and poked my toe, had me stand on my tip toes and felt my other foot, then decided I didn't need it anymore.  Hooray!  He did tell me to wear sneakers or a hard-soled sandal or get one of those elastic braces from an athletic store because I still need support but he wants me moving around and to have my stride evened back out.  He then asked when I'm due.  When I told him that I'm due next week and that I came to see him earlier than he'd asked since I didn't really want to have an orthopedic appointment on my due date, he laughed and told me about a time he had to deliver a baby for one of his patients because the OB couldn't get there in time.  It was cute.  He seemed pleased to be able to retell the story and I enjoyed hearing it.  What nice doctors I have.  :)

As the title suggests, with ole Lumpy's due date being this close, baby pools are being arranged.  There's one here at work and Aunt Amy organized one within the Rehbein clan.  I thought it would be cute to record the results for posterity:

Looks like popular opinion in the Rehbein clan has us missing our due date and having a little tiny boy in the PM sometime.  I was surprised to see how small the weight guesses were.  I guess I'm envisioning a big, fat, 8-9 lb baby like my mom had.  Of course, I guessed a 7.5 lb baby because I'd prefer to deliver one of those, but I was really surprised by how small the expectation is considering everyone expects Lumpy to be late.  Pieper clan?  Shirley?  Aunt Holly?  Anyone wish to weigh in with your thoughts?  If ole Lumpy hasn't come by next week on Friday, Aunt Stevie and I will find out how big technology thinks he/she is.  So fun!  Oh man, I cannot BELIEVE Baby is due next week!  As you can see by my guess, I don't expect him/her to come next week, but holy moly, I can't believe we're so close!