Milestones

Delaney has been hitting her milestones-- I can't believe how much she grows and develops every day!   Here is a current tracking of milestones:   

1. Smile?  She started legitimately smiling (not from gas) at around 6 weeks.  Now she is smiling all the time, both as a response and randomly when she is happy. 

2. Pick head up when doing tummy time or pick head up off shoulder? The pediatrician noted that Delaney had the neck control of a 1 month old when we were discharged from the hospital, so we started doing tummy time right away when we got home.  She has lifted her head up from the first time we did tummy time. 

3. Sit in a bumbo?  I only brought out the Bumbo last week (6 weeks) and she enjoyed it right away.  I'm guessing she could have sat it in earlier, but we had not tried.  (See previous post for Bumbo picture.)

4. Roll over?   She has not started rolling over at all, although has made a few attempts.  We aren't in a huge rush for her to do this because once she can roll over, we can't swaddle her any more, and she has only slept without a swaddle a couple of times.  

5. Laugh out loud? No laugh yet.... We can't wait for that!  I feel like it's going to be any day now though since her smiles are getting more and more enthusiastic and she is cooing so much. 

6. Track with eyes?   Delaney could track contrasting colors and faces with her eyes at times from the beginning, but she does so all the time now.  We can tell that her eyesight is improving a lot (despite being cross eyed after many feeds) because she notices when someone walks into a room and tracks them. 

Also.....
How much milk/formula do they take and how often?  It is difficult to tell how much she is taking from the breast and because of our bottle feeding issues, we were set back on the volume she would take from the bottle.  She's been nursing 15 minutes per breast from the beginning, although sometimes we struggle to get that long.  We hit 4oz bottles at 6 weeks.  We are now at 4.25oz and will try 4.5oz tomorrow.  She was feeding 7x per day up until Thursday when she dropped a feed and now we are doing 6x. 

How much do they sleep?  I will do another post about sleep and schedule later, but her daytime awake/sleep schedule averages 1.5 hours of awake time followed by 1.5 hours of nap time.  

Our First Trip

We decided to take our first trip to Palm Springs to introduce Delaney to her great grandmothers.  The trip was successful!  We spent more time strategizing on how/when to hit the road and packing than we did on the actual trip, and for all the time that we were in the car (probably 5 hours total for the weekend), she only cried for about 5 minutes of it.   She would not have cried at all if we had been able to make it home without the stop for gas!   We stayed very comfortably at Brooks and Bonnie's house and had so much fun.  It was wonderful to get away for a couple days and really special for Delaney to meet such important people. 

She sat patiently waiting for us to pack the car:

She made herself at home in Brooks and Bonnie's giant bed:

She met Saemi, Brice's 90 year old grandmother:

She was very excited to be meeting so many new friends.  This is the Trifecta of Double Chin, Smile AND Dimple!: 

She listened to Saemi's stories: 

But stopped paying attention after awhile: 

She took a bath in the kitchen sink (a little scary for us without all of the "equipment" we have at home):

We had a wonderful dinner on the patio of Tommy Bahama's. 

She had her best night of sleep yet!  Unfortunately I was too excited that she was sleeping so much that I didn't sleep myself.  Silly. 

She relaxed and watched some TV: 

She couldn't believe that we had to leave!  She didn't even get any pool time! 

Unfortunately we did not get any pictures of her with Thelma, her other great grandmother, since we forgot to bring the camera in with us in the midst of trying to get her to go back to sleep!   

We could not have been happier to introduce Delaney to her amazing great grandmothers.  What a special first trip! 

First Mother's Day

I had a truly special 1^st Mother’s Day.  Brice planned a fun day for everyone.  We all went to Toast for brunch, our favorite breakfast place in West Hollywood that we have been going to since we first started dating, but hadn’t been to since we moved to Studio City.  We spent the rest of the day relaxing at home and then had my family and Brice’s family over for home made pizzas and salad for dinner.   I felt so blessed to celebrate the day, and have a deeper appreciation for my mom than ever before. 

Here are some pictures from our Mother’s Day “photo shoot.”  She’s definitely my daughter! 

1 Month Old

Delaney is 1 month old!   She weighs 9lbs 2oz and is 21 inches long. 

We are all doing great!   The terror and panic have subsided, and we feel like we are getting the hang of things (at least for this stage!). 

Delaney is a great eater and has been gaining weight at a very healthy rate.  She is already outgrowing her newborn diapers and newborn clothes, which gives me a mixture of pride that she is so healthy and thriving, but also sadness that she is growing up so fast!

Our biggest challenge has been our difficulties with bottle feeding.   Thanks to an abundant milk supply, we were eager to do more bottle feeds to give me a break and to give Brice the bonding experience.  We’ve tried 4 different kinds of bottles (Medela, Breastflow, Dr. Browns and Born Free), 2 different kinds of nipples, different positions, me feeding, me not in the house while Brice is feeding, different temperatures, different environments, etc.  We finally went on a 48 hour bottle mission where Delaney was only given the bottle.  This was pretty traumatic (mostly for us) but we did make some progress.  She still has a strong preference for the breast, but at least I can now leave the house without feeling like she might starve.   We are going to try the Playtex bottles next which have latex nipples that are recommended for breast-fed babies.      

I won’t say much about her sleeping since I don’t want to jinx ourselves, but I will say that we are getting the hang of the night time routine and feedings.  She typically feeds between 7-9pm, we have bathtime and put her down in her crib, she wakes again between 12-2am and then again between 5-7am.  If the timing works out well, sometimes we only have to get up once in the night!  Brice does the 12-2am bottle-feed but I am still up at that time to pump.  We’ve managed to get about 6 hours of sleep at night, even if they are in 2 or 3 hour increments. 

From the beginning, we’ve been vigilant about putting her down after a few yawns.  She stares into space for a little while and maybe lets out a few fussy cries, but for the most part, she goes to sleep on her own.  This has been fantastic and we are hoping it has started to instill good sleep habits for her.  Although she sleeps at night in her crib, we have her take naps in her crib, her rocker and sometimes her carseat.  

Delaney’s activities include tummy time—and she’s impressively strong for her age and already turning her head completely from side to side and lifting up her head. 

We finally are getting some use out of the swing.  Unfortunately she’s gotten motion sickness a few times, but she seems to get the most enjoyment from the bird mobile which spins. 

Our favorite time has been her night time routine.  She nurses and then we give her a bath.   She really seems to enjoy the bath and after getting dried, applying her night time lotion, getting her hair brushed, putting on a fresh onesie for the night, we put her down in her crib, turn on her Sleep Sheep (her favorite setting is Ocean) and sing “Twinkle Twinkle.” 

The First 2 Weeks...

It is hard to believe that Delaney will already be 3 weeks on Friday!  We watch her grow in both size and personality on a daily basis.  The first day home was terrifying, overwhelming and emotional, and each day since has had its own challenges and rewards.  She is feeding and sleeping like a little champ, and we getting better at recognizing and anticipating her needs, at least some of them .  By her 2 week appointment, she had already exceeded her birth weight (she started at 7 lbs 10 oz, left the hospital at 7lbs 6 oz, and reached 8lbs by her 2 week appointment).  She is very strong, both in body and spirit.   We watch her with awe, amusement, pride and an indescribable amount of love. 

Remarkably, Delaney put herself on a 3-4 hour schedule right away which looks something like this:

-          She wakes to feed (and by “wake to feed,” I mean going from peaceful, sleeping baby to screaming-her-head-off, hyperventilating, must-eat-NOW baby in under a minute).  We change her diaper, typically resulting in more hysterics. 

-          It takes about 45 minutes or so to nurse, which is 15 minutes of “active feeding” per breast, meaning that when she is just hanging out there or falling asleep, it does not count.  She is also a “challenging burper” so we spend a great deal of time trying to get a burp out of her, often with no success.  Over the shoulder burping was a lost cause from the beginning, so we are trying other, more aggressive, techniques.  The first day we were barely patting her back.  Kim, our night nurse, laughed and told us we weren’t going to get anywhere with that.  Now, you can hear us pounding her back from another room.  We’ve quickly come to realize that she is not as fragile as we initially thought.  We are doing one bottle feed during the day and one at night, and the bottle feed takes MUCH less time- about 10 minutes.  Brice does these feeds since I need to be pumping at around the same time, and we both felt it was important for him to do these bottle feedings as bonding time with Delaney (and a break for me).  Bottle feeds, while more efficient, are more challenging since they go so quickly, she doesn’t quite realize she is getting full, so when we stop to burp her at various times, she goes into hysterics again, making burping even more difficult.  We started off at 2.5 oz, got to 3 oz at 2 weeks, and are currently at 3.5 oz as of 2 days ago. 

-          After she eats during the day, we have “activity time.”  Obviously she isn’t doing a whole lot in terms of activities at this point, but we do tummy time either on our chests or on her mat—and she’s already lifting up her head and moving it completely from one side to the other, call family on Skype, sing songs, play with her arms and legs, tell her stories, read books (her current favorite is the Sassy photo album with black and white contrasts), go for a walk (we LOVE our BOB stroller), take tours of the house, sit outside, but mainly just talk to her since her sense of hearing is the first to develop.  This is our favorite time, but is also the shortest time, lasting only 15-45 minutes or so.   At night, there is no activity time; right after she feeds, she goes back down to sleep again. 

-          At the first sign of sleepiness (crankiness or yawning), we swaddle her and get her ready for her nap.  We then put her down to sleep, turn on her Sleep Sheep (her favorite setting is Ocean) and she sometimes have a few minutes of “quiet alert,” meaning she is calm and just staring into space, presumably thinking about how awesome she is, and then drifts off to sleep.   By putting her down to sleep while still awake, we are hoping to promote some sleep independence. 

-          She then sleeps for 1.5-2.5 hours, and the whole cycle starts again! 

Delaney loves:

-          Eating

-          Staring at faces

-          Bathtime with Dad

-          Sleep Sheep, Sleepy Bear, Soothing Seahorse (we have 1 upstairs, 1 downstairs, 1 on her changing table and 1 on her carseat) and other noise—she actually has appeared to sleep the soundest in a noisy room of people

-          Her infant car seat, including car rides and walks in the stroller

-          Being swaddled and also breaking free from her swaddle

-          Trying to eat her hands

-          Getting mani/pedis

-          Her Sassy photo album

-          Holding our fingers

-          Her family! 

Delaney dislikes/is not interested in:

-          The pacifier (she was pretty miffed once she figured out nothing was coming out of it despite rigorous sucking)

-          Waiting for more than 10 seconds to feed

-          Diaper changes

-          Hats

We could not live without:

-          Kim, our night nurse.  She has been AMAZING!  She came every night for the first week and comes every other night for these last 2 weeks.  Her philosophy is to train us to be confident and comfortable parents by the time she leaves, and she gives us daily “goals” to achieve.  The first ones were taking Delaney out for a walk or taking her to a restaurant (sitting outside).  We then graduated to putting her in the car and going somewhere (I took her to my parents house and surprised them).   A few days ago her day time naps were in her crib while we used the monitor.   Tonight we will graduate to having her sleep at night in her room by herself.  EEEEEKKK!!!! 

-          The huge arsenal of burp cloths

-          Summer Swaddle Pods

-          Fisher Price Rock N Play Sleeper

-          I have a love/hate relationship with the breast pump, but I could not live without it.  My milk supply came in fast and furiously—our freezer is quickly filling up with milk.  I am pumping about 8oz in less than 10 minutes, and sometimes even after a full nursing, I can pump an additional 3-4 oz.  Meanwhile, Brice is having dreams with the whoosh-whoosh sound of the pump in it. 

-          Her huge bathroom, which houses her changing table, bath station, bottle/pump cleaning station and tons of storage.  

-          Nursing pillow (I’m using both My Brest Friend and the Boppy, depending on what I can grab the fastest when she’s hysterical) 

-          Video monitor—although I’m hoping we eventually get over the need to watch it the entire time

The joys of being a new mom are overwhelming, but there are also many challenges.  The first week was very difficult, physically and emotionally.   I was in a lot of pain, both from childbirth but also from breastfeeding/milk coming in.   I had heard so much about breastfeeding being difficult, and I had worried about her being able to latch and having enough supply.  Neither of these were issues at all, however engorgement, nipple soreness, neck and shoulder soreness and just the fatigue from the constant demands of breastfeeding were what made it so difficult.   While I did not feel any “baby blues,” I was an emotional wreck—I don’t know who cried more, Delaney or me.  At one point she spit up and I panicked and then started crying because I had panicked.   A few days after getting home, I also started to come down with the horrible cold that Brice was still battling, so I was very sick and congested, and in an effort to not infect Delaney too, I wore a facemask while breastfeeding, which made the task of learning how to breastfeed even more difficult.  This was all compounded by extreme fatigue that all new parents battle.   The sickness, pain and hormonal roller coaster have all completely subsided now, and although I have not yet learned how to “sleep when the baby sleeps,” I am getting better at going back to sleep when Delaney goes back to sleep at night.  Meanwhile, the first night we were without Kim, Brice was up every 15 minutes to check on her.  He is getting better and even slept for an hour the other night without waking to check her!    Besides the fatigue, I'm really feeling great.   Getting out every day, even for a walk, a meal or a well-timed mani pedi has really helped.   Most importantly, having the support of an unbelievable husband, a skilled night nurse and extremely generous and thoughtful friends and family who have run errands for us, brought us meals, walked Dakota, gone grocery shopping, sent us gifts, and just been there for us, has made the experience much easier and more special. 

I would say that we are taking it one day at a time, but it’s more that we are taking it one 2-4 hour cycle at a time.  Although I still feel like we really don’t know what we are doing, one thing that we KNOW we’ve already mastered is loving Delaney with our whole hearts.   

Delaney's Birth Story

I woke up on Thursday, March 31 with contractions.  They felt different (more painful) than the Braxton Hicks contractions that I had been having for a week.   Still, they were about 10 minutes apart and went away once I got up and went for a walk with Brice and Dakota.  I had no other signs that labor was impending, and it was my last day of work anyway, so I didn’t even bother timing any of the contractions I had throughout the day.   Brice had also woken up not feeling good and with cold symptoms, so I already had someone to take care of!   

After soup and salad for dinner, we went to bed early since Brice was not feeling any better.  Even though I was trying to fall asleep, the contractions were pretty painful and at around 11pm, I told Brice that maybe we should start timing them.   We timed them for about an hour and they were consistently 4-6 minutes apart.  We called the doctor on call who told us we should go to the hospital, so we took showers and got the rest of our things packed up.  Neither of us were convinced it was “the real thing,” but we decided that we might as well go in since it was the middle of the night and so there wouldn’t be much traffic if we were sent back home (only in LA does one have to consider traffic when going into labor).  We left the house at 1am, dropped Dakota off at my parents (she was very confused the whole time we were getting ready to go) and got to Cedars at 2am on April 1. 

Right away we were put in a triage room, they took all of my information and vitals and 2 bands got strapped around my belly—one to measure my contractions, one to measure the baby’s heart rate.  The nurse mid-wife came in and introduced herself as Diane (Brice’s mother’s name), and we felt like it was a sign.  Contractions were still 4-6 minutes apart and I was 2cm dilated (I was fingertip on Tuesday at my last appointment).    She called Dr. Serden to give him our update, and he told her to admit me and that he would come at 6am.   When we got this news at around 3:30am, we both started to feel like today might be the day.   An April Fool’s Baby was no joke!   We called Brooks and Bonnie in Palm Springs to give them the heads up.  We hadn’t told anyone else, besides my parents when we dropped off Dakota, since it was the middle the night and even though we felt like today might be the day, it certainly wasn’t going to be happening any time in the near future. 

Dr. Serden came at about 6:30am and by then my contractions had slowed down to every 6-8 minutes.   He gave us the option to go home and labor there for awhile or start on pitocin to kick start the process.  One of the best things about the pregnancy has been Dr. Serden, and we already trusted him implicitly, so we deferred to him.   He suggested that we get going on pitocin because I was already making some progress, I was already at 40 weeks and we were already there and checked in.  We agreed, and I’m so glad that we did, since just a few hours later the waiting room was PACKED and Brice overheard a couple saying that they had been waiting for 2 hours for a room to open up.  The triage room was extremely tiny, dark and pretty uncomfortable, but I was so happy we even had a room!  

Judy Glover, our nurse, checked in at 7am and would stay with us for the rest of the day.  She was fantastic.  By 8am, she got me on the IV for fluids and pitocin in my left arm, a blood pressure band on my right arm, and we were on our way!  

The pitocin certainly did get things going.  Contractions started to pick up and get more painful.  Brooks, Bonnie, Howard and Sam all came by, but I was still in the triage room so there really was no room for more than 1-2 people and I was pretty uncomfortable to even socialize.   I just gripped onto the hospital bed rail and did counting and breathing techniques.   By around 11am I started thinking about getting some pain relief medication.  I wasn’t entirely sure that I wanted the epidural yet knowing that once I got it, I wouldn’t be able to get up and walk around any more, and given how early I was in labor, the thought of being unable to get up and move around for hours and hours and hours was not appealing.  

Dr. Serden came back at about 12 and said that he was going to break my water and that contractions would pick up even more after that.   I decided that was my cue to go ahead and get the epidural, and I’m SO glad that I did, because even during the 30 minutes that I waited for one, they were getting stronger and stronger. 

The epidural was fantastic.   Although I was really scared having seen those gigantic needles before, the doctors and Judy were great.   Getting the IV was actually more painful than getting the epidural.  The sensation was very surreal.  While I could still move and wiggle my toes, I was definitely numb and felt so much better immediately.  My spirits were up, I could talk and RELAX.   Amy, the resident, broke my water, which did not hurt at all surprisingly, thanks to the epidural.  The only problem was by this point I had 2 belly bands, 2 IVs in my left arm (pitocin and fluids), blood pressure strap on my right arm, epidural down my back and catheter on my left leg. 

I was so relaxed and having not slept since Wednesday night, I told Brice I needed to rest.   He was pretty hungry anyway and needing some fresh air, so he went out to grab lunch.  While he was out, I noticed that the baby’s heart rate was going down during contractions since I could hear the monitor.  When Judy checked it out, she agreed but said it was not unusual and put an oxygen mask on me.  Of course, Brice kind of freaked out when he walked back in and saw me with an oxygen mask in addition to all of the other tubes, monitors, bands, etc. on me. 

Although I could feel contractions picking up, at around 2pm, they checked me, and I was only 5-6cm dilated.  We told our parents to stay where they were, that it was probably not going to happen until late tonight, and especially because we were STILL in the triage room, we didn’t want everyone waiting around for hours and hours.   

Finally at 3pm a delivery room opened up and we got moved/I got wheeled out from the triage room.  The delivery room was beautiful.  One whole side was windows looking towards the Hollywood Hills.  It was very spacious and bright—we were so much more comfortable. 

It wasn’t long before our peace and quiet came to an abrupt end.   Judy was the first one in and then 5 more doctors came running in as alarms were sounding on the monitors.   The baby’s heart rate had dropped too low during contractions.   While they turned down the pitocin, flipped me in all different positions, got Dr. Serden on the phone right away, and tried to calm me down, I started crying (fogging up my oxygen mask) and shaking.   Brice held my hand and tried to keep it together, but I could see him shaking too.  We found out the next day (thank goodness) that the cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck and so every contraction was pulling on her neck causing her heart rate to drop.  After awhile things seemed to be in control, and they checked me again and I was already 7-8cm.  We decided it was time to call the parents and let them know that it would probably happen in a few hours so they should start thinking about getting ready to make their way here. 

Dr. Serden came at around 5pm and we both immediately felt so much better.   He was so calm and comforting, and neither of us were nervous or scared any more.  He checked me and I was already 9cm, so Judy started getting the room ready.  Both Judy and Dr. Serden were so calm (of course they were, they do this every day), and so we also felt calm.  We were so surprised that I had gone from 6cm-10cm so quickly.   We called our parents again and told them to HURRY, this was happening NOW.

Although I had envisioned my legs in stirrups, surrounded by nurses and doctors, huge lights over me, a big blue plastic sheet over me, sweating, screaming and panting away, the scene was so different.   It was just Dr. Serden, Judy and Brice in the room with me.  My legs were not in stirrups, and Dr. Serden sat on the edge of the bed.  It was so calm and peaceful.  Dr. Serden said that we were ready and at 5:55, I started pushing.    The epidural was still in full effect, so I did not feel any pain, just a lot of pressure.  I had 3 sets of pushes, and 10 minutes later, Delaney Miya London was born.   

She joined us crying right away and we watched her arms and legs kicking out, thrilled to not be confined to the tight space any more.  They put her on my chest and even through our tears, we could see 10 fingers and 10 toes, a full head of dark hair, and the cutest, warmest, squishiest little body—perfection in every way.   We were so overwhelmed with emotion I had to remind Brice to get the camera out.  

She scored 8 and 9 on her Apgar, weighed 7 lbs 10 oz (I could not believe so much!) and measured 20.5 inches long.   Meanwhile, I delivered the placenta, Dr. Serden stitched my tear and harvested the cord blood for banking. 

I could not stop shaking, so they put a warm blanket over me and I requested to start breastfeeding right away once her vitals were all checked.   It was amazing to see her latch on and start feeding immediately, like she knew exactly what she was doing.    Nature is miraculous.  Brice went out to the waiting room to tell our families, who had all just barely made it minutes before.  

Everyone piled in—Brooks and Bonnie, Howard, Paul and June, Sam and Chris and Stephanie—and it was a beautiful time for our family.  Brice got to hold her for awhile and she stared at our faces calmly. 

After awhile I was moved to post-natal and got set up there.  I finally got to eat (after over 24 hours of nothing but clear liquids) and they finally took the IV out. 

Although we were both exhausted, I could not sleep very much.  I just could not wind down from the experience.  Delaney was exhausted too and slept soundly.   She made a few cries out during the night but stayed asleep.  I nursed her the times that she cried for awhile, and the nurses showed us the basics of how to burp, change a diaper, swaddle and soothe.   It was not a restful sleep since nurses kept coming in to check vitals, we woke up at every peep out of Delaney, and there was no way I was going to sleep with all the excitement from the day before and the day ahead. 

On Saturday, Dr. Serden came to check on me and everything looked great, and Dr. Kleiner came to check on Delaney and everything looked great with her too.  Unfortunately, Brice had continued to get sicker and sicker, and by the afternoon, we were really concerned that he was putting Delaney, me and the other parents and newborns in danger.  It was one of the hardest things Brice has ever had to do, but we made the decision for him to go home in the afternoon.   I kept him up to date with lots of calls, pictures and the nurses took excellent care of Delaney and me.   Meanwhile, Delaney passed her newborn screening test and hearing test. 

We had many visitors at the hospital—Benita and Darren Litt, Brooks and Bonnie, Howard, Sam and Chris, Barbara Glucksman and Joanne Vaisman, Stephanie, and our neighbors Judy and Kasey.   Between socializing with friends and family, nurses coming in every few hours to check our vitals and learning how to take care of Delaney,  the hospital was not a very restful place.  After final check-ups from Dr. Serden and Dr. Kleiner on Sunday morning, we were finally discharged and were so happy to go home.     

Dakota was thrilled to greet us and the introduction to Delaney went really well.  Dakota was not very interested in her at all, but has gradually gotten more loving and protective of her since then.   Danielle and Michelle had arranged for a stork to be in our lawn, and so the whole neighborhood knew about our homecoming.   We’ve had a steady stream of excited visitors, and we are adjusting really well.   Thanks to the help of Kim, our night nurse, we are getting into a schedule already, which Delaney is very responsive too.   Breastfeeding has been going extremely well, and since I got sick as well a few days after we got home, I knew especially how important breastfeeding would be.   We get more confident and comfortable every day and are loving every moment with Delaney, meltdowns and sleepless nights too.   She holds our whole hearts in her sweet little hands. 

Stats:

Delaney Miya London

7 lbs, 10 oz 

20.5” long

Date:  April 1, 2011 

Time:  6:05pm

Location:  Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles California

OB/GYN:  Dr. Scott Serden

L&D Nurse:  Judy Glover

Post-Partum nurses:  Mary, Carrie, Dulce, Helene

39 weeks

How far along? 39 weeks

Doctor’s appointment:  We had our 39 week appointment yesterday.  Unfortunately I’ve made no progress in the last 3 weeks.  I MIGHT be just a fingertip dilated, but just barely.  Although it is still 1 week before my due date, at my first internal 3 weeks ago when she was already so low, I thought she would definitely be here by now.  More than the frustration of having made no progress, I am just very uncomfortable due to her low positioning.  However, she is healthy and happy as can be inside, and that is what is most important.   Dr. Serden will induce at 41 weeks, so she will definitely be here in less than 2 weeks! 

Symptoms:  BH contractions have been going strong since the weekend, nearly all day.  However, there is no pattern to them, so they are not “real contractions” yet.   We are told to call when they are 5 minutes apart, last 1 minute, for 1 hour.  I feel pretty good in the mornings, but by the afternoon I’m very sleepy and by the evening I am extremely uncomfortable.  Getting in and out of bed (which happens about 4-8 times per night) takes a huge amount of effort.   

Labor Signs:  None yet - just the BH contractions.

Weight gain/loss: +26 lbs

Maternity Clothes:  It’s in the 80’s here so I can actually wear some of the maternity sundresses that I didn’t think I would get to! 

Sleep? I’m still taking the sleeping pills every night, otherwise I would never sleep.  I still have to get up continuously to go to the bathroom.  I’m looking forward to my last day of work on Thursday so that I can start napping during the day. 

Best moment this week?  I had an amazing foot massage and then we went to Hatfield’s for a fancy date night. 

Movement: Movements are still very strong—I’m impressed since I really don’t think there’s much room in there. 

Food cravings/aversions:  Sam brought over my favorite vanilla cupcakes from Joan’s on Third!

Belly button in or out? Amazingly still flat, so I think it might actually never go out. 

Stretch marks?  From what I can see, just a few, but the varicose veins in my left leg are truly frightening. 

Exercise:   We normally get up at diligently at 5:45am on Tuesdays to go to spinning class, but after spinning on Saturday, I decided to retire the spinning shoes.  My legs were hitting my belly, and there’s enough pressure in my pelvic region without sitting on a bike for an hour.  I’m disappointed since I really wanted to do it “up until the end,” but I’m still proud that I was able to do it for as long as I did.  So now I’m just walking, walking, walking, and doing some prenatal yoga. 

What I miss? I really missed having wine when we were out to dinner over the weekend.  Although I know 1 glass would be fine, I’ve gone this long without any alcohol, what’s another week? 

What I am looking forward to? Tomorrow is my last day of work!  I’m trying to plan something fun for every day so that I can have something to look forward to when I wake up and she’s still not here.