Introductions.

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you James Byron Hibbler. He managed to take us all by surprise by being both teensy (6lb 8oz 6lb 14oz and 20 inches) and early (May 28 2011 at 8:27pm, two days before his due date).


Straight from the uterus and delighted to be here.


The lot of us. Jim looks the most rested, no?


Cleaned up and looking chipper.


Getting dyed blue. He rubbed it all over both of us.


Investigating the baby late that night.

Coming up later: more adorable pictures taken the next day when the three of us don't look like zombies, lengthy and terrifying birth story involving huge needles and hallucinogenic drugs, and Noah handling poop. Stay tuned.

It's my blog and I'll overshare if I want to.

Yet another thing I didn't know about this whole reproductive process: when you blow your nose, you leak. No, my bladder is still sound - I'm talking about milk. It's kind of gross.

39 and a half.

How far along? 39 weeks and 3 days.
Total weight gain/loss: Don't know - had company and didn't get around to weighing.
Maternity clothes? Ja.
Stretch marks? A few.
Sleep: Horrible. I've come down with a really nasty cold, and I can't take any of the medicine we have in the house, so I can't breathe and therefore can't sleep. Noah's going to pick up some stuff I can supposedly take, though, so hopefully it'll be better tonight.
Best moment this week: Visitors = good. On a more avaricious note, large amounts of adorable things = good, too.
Movement: Yeah. Kind of lazy, but predictable (nothing during the day, lots during the night). Increasing amounts of cervical attacks.
Food cravings: Nothing. Food sounds gross. Don't want any.
Gender: Him.
Labor Signs: Lots of sporadic contractions. They're getting really uncomfortable-verging-on-painful. Doctor wanted to check my cervix at my appointment Monday, but I declined it, so I'm not sure what's going on in there.
Belly Button in or out? More out than in now, I think. Sigh.
What I miss: Standing up without feeling like Jim's going to fall right out.
What I am looking forward to: See above.
Weekly Wisdom: Stock up on fetus-friendly cold medicine before getting a cold...
Milestones: Due date is Monday. Eeeek. Better wait a bit longer, though - at least until this cold is done. Being in labor and sick at the same time seems like it wouldn't be much fun.

An assortment of pictures.

Why Noah should not be allowed to watch anime.


Why Noah hates going for walks with me. (he doesn't actually - it's shocking how well he puts up with silly antics) (extra-parenthetical-bonus: he is wearing a shirt for once! impressive, no?)

In addition to these two random silly pictures, I have also been trying to practice taking reasonable pictures of moving things in an effort to have non-blurry pictures once James shows up and starts flailing about. My attempts thus far:


Bruce is a good stand-in for a babby. At least Jim will not be solid black and will be forced to stay where I put him for a little while.


The results of instructing Noah to go dance about for a minute.


Possible retribution for forcing him to balance a pine cone on his hat?

I do believe I'm going to give birth to a full-size toddler.

38 weeks, 2 days. Taken this morning. Have I mentioned that I love dresses? They're guaranteed to always fit over the belly - they just keep getting shorter.


From two weeks ago, for reference. I don't think I've grown too much since (haven't really gained any weight, either, so it'd be odd if I'm much bigger).

Can't wait until I have no more OB appointments.

Yesterday I found myself at the doctor's office for the first time in three weeks. I wasn't actually supposed to go that long between visits, but I canceled last week because I was effectively crippled from my lovely long walk. No huge loss, I'd say - not like they do a whole lot besides check heartbeat, urine, etc.

Anyway, I was there yesterday for almost two hours, fifteen minutes of which were spent with the doctor. Everything seemed normal - good blood pressure, normal urine whatevers, proper growth (I've quit measuring ahead - he's been exactly on track for the last few visits), good heartbeat. I gained less than half as much weight between 35 and 38 weeks than I did between 33 and 35 weeks, which amused me a bit. Hopefully I can keep the weight gain to a minimum for the rest of this pregnancy. Oh, and I'm negative for the group B strep, which is great. Alas, the test apparently is only good for a few weeks, so if I don't have the baby this week (don't get any ideas, Jim - STAY!), they're going to retest on Monday just to make sure I'm still negative.

I also got my doctor to have a look-see at my birth plan to make sure everything would work. For the most part, she was pretty supportive. Exceptions:

• Electronic monitoring - I'd sooner just get checked with the doppler or something once or twice an hour, but apparently they're really big on electronic monitoring here and won't do that. Fortunately, they do have the telemetry version, so I won't be strapped to a bed or anything.
  
• IV - She said it'd be fine to just get a hep lock instead of an IV, which is exactly what I wanted, but then said that they might want me to get IV fluids if I've been there for a while, since they don't allow any liquids by mouth. This seems incredibly dumb to me. "No! Don't drink any water! Oh, now you're dehydrated? Damn. Who could have guessed? Let's hook you up to a bunch of medical shit!" I get that the no-liquids-by-mouth is to prevent aspiration in the event of an emergency C-section, but every study I've seen has shown that to be no longer an issue.
  
• Pitocin - Apparently they like to start that within a few hours of getting to the hospital if your water is broken. This is the only one of the things she listed that I will probably fight them on, but hopefully I can avoid the issue altogether by just staying at home until things are well under way.
  

The only other thing I did while there was get a recommendation for a pediatrician. I've got this baby due in two weeks, see, and it suddenly occurred to me that he should probably have a doctor ready. So I am now off to investigate the guy they recommended and give a call. I have no idea how this pediatrician thing works (do I set up an appointment now? call them after he's born? will he come to the birth?), so hopefully they'll be helpful and used to dealing with noobs.

38.

How far along? 38 weeks.
Total weight gain/loss: No change from last week, so still up 37.
Maternity clothes? Ja.
Stretch marks? Some minor-ish ones (I think).
Sleep: Sucks. Want more.
Best moment this week: James discovering how to burrow into my cervix. Oh. Wait. Not that.
Movement: Slowing down a bit, which is apparently normal since he's now running out of room in there.
Food cravings: Fruit still. Juicy things. Cold things.
Gender: He-child.
Labor Signs: Big increase in practice contractions this week. Most are still the painless Braxton-Hicks ones, but some actually hurt, like mild period cramps.
Belly Button in or out? Still mostly in. I think that 2-4 weeks is not enough time for it to go out completely, but Noah thinks it will.
What I miss: My waist. Being able to do things without feeling like hell the next day.
What I am looking forward to: Having an outside baby.
Weekly Wisdom: Relax. Then relax some more. Then take a nap, after which should ideally come more relaxing.
Milestones: Two weeks until my due date, and we just ordered the last of the necessities from Amazon (car seat, nursing bras)! There's still some stuff on our list, but nothing that we strictly need.

Technical difficulties?

Apparently Blogger was down for a while, and the bastards deleted all posts and comments made after 7:30am PST yesterday, so my apologies if anybody made a comment that was deleted. Everything appears to be in working order now.

Need some advice.

We've got a bit of a dilemma, so I figured I'd pose the question to you people who know stuff about babies.

Noah has just discovered that once he starts his job he'll be switching shifts regularly - nights for 6-8 weeks, then days for 6-8 weeks, then nights, and so forth for the foreseeable future. I get terribly lonely sleeping without him, so if it were just the two of us, I'd just switch sleep schedules when he does - sleep nights when he's on days, sleep days when he's on nights.

Alas, James is determined to complicate the matter (well, maybe not determined, but complicating nonetheless). My question is: is it reasonable to expect a baby to switch sleep schedules that often, or will that screw him up but good? I'd much rather sleep when Noah does, but if it won't work with a young baby, then I suppose Jim and I will be sleeping nights and just looking forward to the day-shift months when Noah can join us.

So, that's the situation. Any advice or commentary is extremely welcome.

Fanfare, etc.

How far along? 37 weeks.
Total weight gain/loss: Up a pound or two from last week, so 37ish.
Maternity clothes? Yep. More dresses. Can't understand why anyone would voluntarily choose to wear pants in the summer.
Stretch marks? Yeah, but I don't think they're too bad... Of course, I can't see the bottom part of my belly with anything approaching clarity, so I guess I'll see how things look once he's out.
Sleep: Getting harder. I generally go to bed around 10, fall asleep around midnight after several bathroom trips, wake up at 1:30, 2:30, 3:30, 4:30, and 7 to pee, and finally groggily drag myself from bed at 9. So, I call that maybe 5 hours of sleep for 11 hours of bedtime. I find it hard to believe that I'll actually get less sleep once James is here, but I'm always open to surprises.
Best moment this week: Despite the whining (and my inability to even stand up straight today), I highly enjoyed yesterday's walk.
Movement: Lots, usually last thing before bed and first thing in the morning.
Food cravings: Fruit. I got some fresh pineapple which is wonderful.
Gender: He. Er. Han.
Labor Signs: Had some bizarrely-intense downward pressure the other night - not sure what that was about. Otherwise, nothing.
Belly Button in or out? In-between. The edges kind of stick out, but the rest is still in.
What I miss: My real clothes.
What I am looking forward to: Bedtime.
Weekly Wisdom: Maybe hold the hikes to an hour or so in the future...
Milestones: Jim is full-term today! Still three weeks to go until his due date (and hopefully he'll stay put for a couple of days after that, too), but technically he can come any time between now and June 13th (42 weeks is all my doctor is comfortable with).

My own damn fault.

Sometimes I wish I could trade bodies with someone (specifically Noah, but anyone non-pregnant would work) just so they could experience all of the physical weirdness going on right now.

Today, for example, we went for a walk. I love walks, actually - I make Noah go for one with me every weekend if possible. The plan was to do just a quick circuit around the path, maybe an hour or so, just enough to get some sun and woods and exercise without being horrifically taxing. Alas, we got lost about an hour into it, and it turned into a two and a half hour walk.

This wasn't some leisurely meander on a level sidewalk either, I'll have you know. Living in close proximity to a military base has certain perks, one of which is access to the kick-ass trails that the marines do PT on, and that's where we were today. So picture long steep hills, ankle-deep sand, and lots of cool obstacles (which I bypass but usually get Noah to attempt for my amusement). It's a great place for a walk as long as you make sure to time it so you don't get trampled by the morning PT folk - in the woods, lots of animals and weird vegetation (pine trees and cacti), a good mix of sun and shade (until you've been walking for 90 minutes, at which point it suddenly turns into nonstop blasting UV rays of damnation). We eventually did find our way out, due to awesome backtracking skills and a great deal of patience. On the up side, we did see a pretty cute lizard.

Now, of course, I am hobbling like an old woman. Everything between my knees and my ribcage feels like someone laid me down and carefully worked me over with the tender touch of a sledgehammer. Due to an artful combination of lower back pain, pubic bone pain, and a pelvis that feels like it's not actually attached to the rest of my body, it took me a good two minutes to get off the couch last time I had to pee (and alas, I know the next time won't be far away).

So yeah, I know it's my own fault for deciding to take a hike at 9 months pregnant, but right now I'd love to hand this body off to someone else and see what they make of it.

Odds and ends.

I can't decide if "odds and ends" is better or worse than "bits and pieces." Maybe I should go with a nautical theme and use "flotsam and jetsam."

Regardless.


A changing table! Oooooh.

I'm trying to get nursery stuff halfway organized since there's a teeny squalling scrunchy red creature arriving in the next month or so to inhabit it. So far, my progress is as follows:

• On top - Stuff I should put away. A box full of adorable things from family (thank you! we ooh'd and aah'd over the cute things for far too long, but I'm making Noah ration out the candy so James and I don't get TOO huge!), a wet bag for cloth diapers, and an off-brand Jenga set that I should probably remove before Jim gets the idea that wooden blocks are edible.
  
• In the middle - Wipes and other diaper-y accessories, diaper covers, prefolds and disposables for when he's too tiny to fit in the cute fluffy ones.
  
• On the bottom - Medicine and so forth (thermometer, aspirator, and what-have-you), a stowaway (probably should remove him too, lest Jim get the idea that Bruce is edible...), and adorable bath towels with whales and frogs on them.
  

The nursery is shaping up pretty well otherwise. We need to get a crib mattress and sheets, a lamp for next to the glider, and some decorative stuff for the walls. I really want to get some of these wall decals to put over his crib. Babies love alien invasions.

Self-indulgent belly* pictures!

36w2d, taken this morning. Forgive the extremely stylish turban - I just got out of the shower and wanted to take a picture before I forgot.

For comparison's sake:

32w1d, taken April 5th. No turban. :(

Noah insists that I do not, in fact, look like a water buffalo, but I swear I'm bigger now than some women I've seen a week past their due dates...

*I would rather stab myself than say bump. Sorry. Can't do it.

36 + 1

How far along? 36 weeks and one day.
Total weight gain/loss: 35ish. Eek. That's about where I should be at the very end, so hopefully I can keep any more gain to a minimum...
Maternity clothes? Yes, nothing but dresses. Maternity jeans are not doing the trick anymore.
Stretch marks? :( and that's all I have to say about that.
Sleep: My favorite thing. Hard to get comfortable anymore though.
Best moment this week: Sleeping in this morning was pretty nice.
Movement: Inconsistent this week. Some days he barely moves and I get all worried (Noah has discovered that he can generally make him move by making moose noises, though, which is terribly useful), and other days he prances about all day long.
Food cravings: Popcorn and tomatoes, but I have no tomatoes.
Gender: Him.
Labor Signs: Nope, and it can stay that way, thanks.
Belly Button in or out? In-ish. The edges sometimes get a little pokey-outy.
What I miss: Energy.
What I am looking forward to: Finding out about my GBS test and being full-term in a week.
Weekly Wisdom: Cream cheese frosting is to be put on cupcakes, not eating with a spoon. Technically.
Milestones: Not this week, but I'll be full-term Monday.