Really baby?

A letter for Phyllis/Tammy Wynette/Damascus Pinkerton/TamDam:

OK baby. You win. You've gotten under my skin. Both figuratively and literally. I've been so patient, so calm waiting for you. Now all of my carefully constructed cool demeanor is falling apart. Why are you toying with me? Just come out of there!

Is this your first practical joke? Ha ha, I'll fool mom into thinking she could need an induction... Well it's not funny. I'm suddenly nervous about this whole birthing thing. See what you've done! Just come out!

Daddy and I spent yesterday decorating the house, making it cozy and holiday style just for you. We have pretty lights and stockings. Once you come out we're also going to get you a beautiful tree that will smell wonderful. You can help me decorate the tree and that way you'll be close enough to see it with your newborn eyes. As a special bonus, Dan looks especially handsome when lit by Christmas lights. You'll see once you come out of me!

So baby, what I'm trying to say is that I'm really excited to meet you and I love you so much already, it's hard to imagine how much more once I can see your sweet face. Please make your move. Please come out of me. Let's get this thing going.

Can't wait to meet you,
Mommy

Thanksgiving baby?

Posted by: Cal

So here we are. It's Thanksgiving and I thought we'd have a week-old baby by now. Thanksgiving baby? you ask. I'm almost guessing no. Maybe, but it's looking unlikely. So we're just waiting and waiting on this baby more than we already have been.

In the meantime, keep yourself busy by watching this:

41 weeks and counting

Today baby is 41 weeks old in in-utero years. Either I'm a slow baby baker, or my womb is incredibly comfortable, because baby doesn't seem to be in a huge rush to come out. But who can blame baby? It's getting cold outside!

Cal and I spent time this morning with the medical folks to ensure that Phyllis' room and board is sufficient, and all looks good. We did have an ultrasound, and once again baby played camera shy. This time, the hand was covering the face above the nose, so we were able to see squishy cheeks and a button nose, but the eyes were covered. I think baby gets that from Dan. He hates the camera and always turns away when it comes out. He's practically an aborigine.

*TMI Warning*
As for progress, my cervix is continuing to dilate, almost to two centimeters now. Also, I'm effaced to nearly 75%. To help progress further, we opted to "sweep the membranes" which apparently encourages release of more of the prostoglandins, which continue to get my cervix ready for delivery. We'll see what happens.
*TMI Warning End*

At this stage, we're looking good to enjoy Thanksgiving with friends, so I'll head to the store for the fixin's for Green Bean Casserole. Yum!! Why is heavily processed food so delicious! I'm sure baby will love it!

I feel like this year I have so much to be thankful for, I don't even know where to start. I'll just name a few things here:

Cal - you are the best husband anyone could hope for. You're incredibly handsome, caring, compassionate and funny. You rock my world. I'm so grateful to have you.

Baby - I haven't even seen you yet, and I'm already in love with you. I can't wait to meet you on the outside and see what kind of person you are.

Dan - You make me laugh, you annoy me, and you smell wonderful. I love our afternoon cuddles and I love you.

Friends - Wow - so many people I'm so thankful for in so many ways. All the support and encouragement this year has been incredible. It makes me more hopeful for bringing my wee one into this world.

I'm thankful to God that I've been so incredibly blessed this year in general. Literally, Thank God!

I hope you have a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Do what daddy says...

Posted by: Cal

Still pregnant. And less ok with that.

Well, here we are. Five days past my due date. Still no external baby.

I've been so mellow this whole pregnancy, but I have to admit the excitement has taken hold and my patience is nearly non-existent. Who has been living in me since February? Is it a boy or girl? Cute or a baby for mommy's special love? Will this baby be funny? Will it have blue or brown eyes? I can barely stand it. I see how women let themselves be talked into induction. I'm not ready for that yet, but I can still see how it happens.

TMI WARNING FOR NEXT PARAGRAPH

Still, my body is making progress. I lost my mucous plug early Sunday morning. That doesn't necessarily mean that labor is imminent, but it's a good sign that my cervix is thinning/dilating as it should be. Go cervix go!

So I'm going to continue going on about my days, walking all over the place, and starting to consider other ideas to encourage Phyllis to come out. Apparently there are some acupressure points that can be helpful. Perhaps a project for Auntie Margaret's assistance? We'll see.

Still pregnant. And I'm ok with that.

As of today I'm three days overdue. I had thought my due date was 11/20, only to be told by my midwife that apparently it was the 19th. Oops. Anyhow, I'm now a few days past due and still feeling pretty good. I think I may be having sporadic contractions, but so far they don't seem to be consistent, and they are pretty short. They could just be more intense braxton-hicks contractions. My midwife also told me on Thursday that I was 50% effaced and 1cm dilated. So looks like things are coming along.

We ran into one of our midwives at the grocery store today and she said that effacement is usually a better indicator than dilation of impending labor. So - we're looking good!

I have a feeling baby won't be too much longer, but who really knows? I'm just so grateful that this pregnancy thing has gone so well. It's not the most comfortable physical experience of my life, but it's also not the worst. Actually, I've really enjoyed being pregnant. I've been sleeping pretty well, my digestion seems just fine, and per Cal's last post, I can still wear heels if the occasion demands it.

Cal and I are spending the rest of today doing last minute house cleaning. Really, there's not much left to do, but we figure that with anticipating two weeks of moms in our house, we may as well be thorough. Also, all the movement is good for helping shake baby down. We've also been doing a lot of walking around the neighborhood: to the art store, drug store and grocery store. Once we're done with housework, I think we'll go for another walk. Shake, shake!

Baby, your parents were cool

Dear Baby,

I know it's going to be hard to believe. You won't be able to conceive of it. When you're 15 and mortified by everything your parents do--we cold-shoulder your friends; we talk too much to your friends; we embarrass you in front of boys/girls; we embarrass you in public. We think we're way too cool when we're not; and we just don't "get it." We try to be funny, but our jokes are outdated (like that Napoleon Dynamite reference your mom made last week); we listen to terrible, "old-person" music like the Postal Service and Arcade Fire. We dress funny, and we think you should get a "gas using" car when you turn 16 because that's what we drove. Your mom thinks you dress like a slob, I think you should be attending to your studies more. Your mom thinks you should be home by 10 (I say midnight, but it's up to your mom on this one...); I say no one of the opposite sex in the house when we're not home...
When all this is happening, I know it's going to be hard to believe, but your Mom and Dad were cool. When all the above happens and we're old, slightly overweight, boring, unfunny Mom and Dad. I want you to remember this:
On the due date of your birth, your mother rocked a sexy black dress and heels and we played blackjack and (I) drank free booze at a VIP party. So there, not even you can keep us from our rock 'n' roll lifestyle.
While we may cramp your style in 15 years, you never cramped ours--so get over it.

Love,

Your Dad

Lay up for yourselves treasures in the freezer...

I have to say that I have the most amazing husband ever. He's been an active participant in the nesting - and I couldn't be more pleased.

When I first met Cal, he could not cook at all. I recall one day when we were dating when he stopped at a gas station and purchased Mt. Dew, a package of Flips (or flipz? those coated pretzel thingies), and a package of trail mix. He then informed me that it was the first thing he had eaten that day, and was all he intended to eat. Once in our first year of marriage, he begged me to make him some oatmeal. I said no, because the instructions are on the package. He was angry at me because I refused when I "already knew how to make it." He's come a long way.

A few years after the oatmeal incident, he had some time on his hands and decided to learn to cook. Not knowing anything about food at all, he selected the most challenging cook book in my collection. In those days he spent as much time with the dictionary as he did with the cookbook. It is a Mediterranean cookbook and they tend to use terms not as common in the US, such as aubergine instead of eggplant, etc. He made his way through and now is quite the accomplished cook.

Yesterday we spent an awesome day in the kitchen together, making freezer meals in prep for Phyllis' arrival. I shouldn't exactly say "we" as I made only one dish, and Cal made the rest. I made three pans of hopefully delicious turkey enchiladas, and then Cal told me I needed to take a nap because I was getting grouchy. He was right. I was grouchy. This baby making is exhausting.

While I lay in repose, he made beef stew, lasagna, and arroz catalan (think paella, but kind of soupy). On top of all this, the prior weekend he made pumpkin soup and lentil soup. Seriously, who gets as lucky as me to have this kind of incredible man?

We counted and we have about 15 meals ready in the freezer for Phyllis' rough days. Hopefully the days won't be too rough, but just in case, we're as prepped as we can be.

Thank you, Cal. You are my favorite.

More Photos

Finally, I've put some pictures from both baby showers on the blog. And here they are:

fancy-schmancy arty photography

Posted by: Cal

Today Stacia and I played out our own episode of America's Next Top Model--pregnant lady edition. Here's the results...

Progress

I suppose I should also add a note regarding Phyllis' readiness to enter the world. As of today we are a mere twelve days away from the due date. Apparently less than 5% of babies are actually born on their due date. I'm not sure what percentage of babies come earlier vs. later. Probably a more interesting statistic to know at this point. I'll look that up.

I can feel that I'm getting closer, but I don't think Phyllis is in a rush. If I had to guess today, I'd lean toward me going over-time vs. an early arrival. We'll keep you posted.

Phyllis - a green bough

Early Wednesday morning (around 3am or so) I had an intense dream where all the names Cal and I have considered for baby were on a ballot - and I had to vote for the appropriate first/middle combo. On the ballot was a new name for middle-name consideration. Phyllis. This is not a name I find particularly attractive, and I don't know where I might have encountered it recently, but it pervaded the remainder of my dreams until I awoke that morning. I jumped out of bed and went to the baby name book to find the meaning, "Green bough". Cute enough. Once Cal awoke, I told him I was pretty sure our baby's middle name needed to be Phyllis. He immediately gagged and told me the name was awful. So, I guess Phyllis will not be a part of TamDam's future. Except that I now feel compelled to use Phyllis in place of TamDam as my new fetus name. Feel free to refer to baby as Phyllis until we actually pick a name.

On another note, I completely neglected to blog about my awesome baby shower experiences here at home. My friends Dana and Margaret threw Cal and I a wonderful baby shower where we enjoyed time with friends and received some great things for baby. Thanks so much!

Also, a belated shout out to my incredible team at Microsoft who celebrated with all three of us prego's on the team. Yes, three ladies on one team - all due within days of each other. Must be all the Talking Rain.