Peter's first trip to Disneyland

We took Peter down to California a few weeks ago for a trip full of firsts.

Here are a list of some of the places he went for the first time.

An airport
An airplane
A pool
An aquarium
A hotel
Disneyland
A Disneyland ride
And I'm sure lots of other places.

He also got to experience his first 103 degree weather. Woof! While I can say he did not appreciate Disneyland or The Aquarium of the Pacific he did seem to like the pool quite a bit. I will post a video of his first swim soon.

Disneyland!

We stayed on property which was very nice and gave us a home base for nursing and cooling off. There is also a baby care center in each of the parks that has a nice nursing room, big changing tables, and anything you might have forgotten at home.

The best part of the trip was the World of Color show that's running at California Adventure in the evenings. It is a lighting-geek's dream. LED's, jets of water, projections, lasers, and 30 foot streams of fire! What more could you want? We saw it once from the hotel room, and liked it so much that we went to see it for real the next day.

Low point of the trip was getting stuck five boats from the exit at Pirates of the Caribbean. Peter was sleeping, so that was fine, but it still took an hour before they would let us get off the ride. We had to climb over the other boats to make it to the emergency platform.

Other than that, we had a great time visiting with family and swimming and playing in Disneyland. Here are some pictures!

Babies first ball game!

We took Peter to a Mariners game last night and had a blast. He stayed up way past his bed time, but was very well behaved. He even went and sat a few rows back for a couple of innings with some friends who happen to be sitting behind us.

Serena and Megan went with us and at times paid more attention to Peter that to the game. In fact he was turning heads all around him in his adorable hat. I guess if either team had a chance at play-offs it might have been different, but it was still a fun game to watch and lucky for us it was a game!

He slept for about half of the game and spent the rest of the time checking out the many people around him. He didn't seem bothered by the crowd or the noise. He seemed to have a pretty good time and they even gave him a little certificate for his first game. Oh yeah, the Red Sox won.

Baby Stats:

Almost 3 months
14 ponds
26 inches

10 Weeks!

It's been a great 10 weeks. We are all doing very well. Peter just had his 2 month check up and passed with flying colors. He has grown 4 inches and and gained almost 5 pounds. Here is a list of thing he has learned to do since he was born.

Rolls from tummy to back.
Smiles when tickled or smiled at.
Grabs his feet.
Rocks his bouncy chair.
Sleeps for up to 8 hours without waking up.
Stays awake for a significant portion of the day.
Follows me around with his eyes.
Grabs our fingers and puts them in his mouth.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I know what you really want is pictures. So here you go.

Graham Clan Meets Peter

A week without visitors hanging out with Peter made us very happy to have more grandparents show up to help. Susan, Ward, and Great-Grandmother Nunnie visited for almost two weeks and helped with everything from holding Peter to fixing our dilapidated gate.


It's amazing how hard it is to get even the simplest things done when you are constantly watching a baby. Well, having dinners made and getting a few nagging fix-it projects done around the house was a godsend. So lawns were mowed, doors were painted, and Gracie went on lots of walks.

We didn't make them work the whole time though, as we found time to do a little sightseeing and had some nice dinners out. It's still a learning period, as we get to know Peter's schedule, and his cues. He does pretty well in Moby carriers, and we have yet to buy a stroller. Lauren has taken him to Yoga once, and we have successfully navigated six restaurants with him. Loud ones, but restaurants all the same.

Now we have to get through without parental support, but having help for the majority of that first month was wonderful.

Photos by Kaarin

Kaarin and Keri came over the other day and Kaarin took some really good pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

Peter Hiccupping

Peter had a little jaundice developing after a couple days, as his Bilirubin level was a little high. The therapy for this is to have him lay on a light-emitting bed for as long as possible. He was done after a couple of days and now all is well. Here is a video that Stephen took of Peter laying on the light bed while he had the hiccups:

My birth story

On Friday the 18th I went into the midwives’ office for an ultrasound and a non-stress test. I was 41 weeks that day. My amniotic fluid level was a little low, but other than that everything looked great. The midwife tried to check my cervix, but it was still too far back to reach. We talked about the various methods of induction in case any problems arose or I went past 42 weeks. I left the office very disappointed.

Later that day I inadvertently did a bunch of things that are said to bring on labor. We went for walk in the Kubota Gardens, my mom rubbed my feet, I ate spicy BBQ, and some other things too. My contractions started at about 11PM and were from the get go pretty intense and about 5 minutes apart. It wasn’t at all what I expected early labor to be like. In fact I thought I just had a very bad stomach ache. Because it was just at the start of the night I tried things to slow or stop the process. I tried a bath, I ate, I paced the house, and nothing seemed to be helping. My Dad was awake with a horrible tooth ache so at least my misery had some company.

Sometime around 2 or 3AM I called the midwife on duty to check in on situation. She told me it was likely I had a long way to go and recommended a warm shower and to stay in bed as long as possible. It was very difficult to sleep because the contractions were so close together, but I managed to get about 2 or 3 five minute segments of sleep before having to get up and move around. Around 7AM I decided that I needed some more support. I called my doula Jennifer, but told her not to come yet as I was still able to talk through my contractions and I woke up Stephen to help me cope a bit better.

Not long after I called the midwife again because I thought I might have been bleeding more than normal. My contractions were coming pretty close together, but weren’t very consistent so I feared I still had a long way to go. The midwife said I should just come in and get checked out just to be safe. We got a few last things together, I took a quick bath, and then Stephen, my dad, and I headed to the hospital.

We arrived at the hospital at 10AM and met our midwife at triage. I was half expecting to be sent home after hearing similar stories from so many people. I could not believe when they told me I was 7 centimeters dilated and 90% effaced. They admitted me promptly and Stephen called my mom and Jennifer and told them to get there quick.

We got to the room and I immediately got in the jacuzzi tub. It helped a lot, but the contractions were moving from very intense to out of control painful and it took every fiber of my being (and Stephen and Jennifer) to remain relaxed. I hadn’t thought I would want my mom in the room for the birth, but it ended up that her added support was indispensable. After a couple of hours I started to have an uncontrollable urge to push. They checked my cervix again and after a few more contractions my water broke. I moved to the squat bar on the bed and started the ungodly painful process of trying to push the baby out.

Jennifer took pictures of the birth and the expression on my face is disturbing. After the longest thirty minutes of my life Peter was born. He came out with his fist to his head and my mom thought he had a huge head tumor. They put him right on my chest and we all thought he was the sweetest baby ever.

They left him on my chest and I started to nurse him while we finished the birthing process which included 45 minutes of painful stitching to repair tearing caused by Peter’s elbow. After that we had some visitors and then I got into the routine of nursing and Stephen got busy changing diapers and swaddling all night long. We were so happy with our amazing midwife, doula, nurses, and all the other hospital staff. It was an awesome experience and we are so happy to have our new little boy.

One of my funnier facial expressions:

40 Weeks and counting!

There's really not much to report, but as I passed the 40 week mark I figured it would be good to post. I had an appointment with the midwives yesterday morning and they scheduled me for an ultrasound next Friday along with my first of many non-stress tests that I will have to do if I don't have the kid by then. The ultrasound is to make sure that there is enough fluid for the baby to move around in and the non-stress test is 20 minutes of baby heart monitoring to make sure he's doing alright in there. They said I looked way to adorable to be having a kid anytime soon and to come back when my back started to ache and I was waddling. I bet they say that to all the pregnant girls.

I am very excited that my parents have decided to come up on Monday instead of waiting for labor to start. Hopefully I won't make them wait too long to meet their new grandchild. I still feel like there is a lot to do around the house and I am hoping that my Mom will swoop in and reorganize the nursery into a way that makes more sense. Also I've become terrible at eating so having someone to feed me would be awesome. Especially now that I am out of the soup that I have been eating almost every night for dinner out of food apathy. I am not sure how it is possible to be hungry all the time, but too unmotivated to make a real meal.

Today I went out in search of the perfect storage bin for the shelves of the changing table. I found them, but it involved going to home depot, then to target, then back to home depot to get the cash back they forgot to give me, then to another target because the first one only had 2 of the 4 bins I needed. I also decide that I need to go to the farmers market to get some veggies and an ice cream bar. Then I realized that Gracie had been home alone for quite some time so I figured I should swing by the house pick her up and go to a dog park on the way to target number two. Who knew that a few Rubbermaid containers could consume almost a full day. That being said I made some good progress on the nursery. All the clothes and accessories are clean and put away in bins, drawers, and boxes. There are very few things left that are not baby related in the room. All of which are too heavy for me to lift in my current state.

Tomorrow I am going to finish up in the nursery with Stephen's help and then get some much need yard work done.

I have yet to pack the hospital bag, but have been slowly making a pile of stuff that I want to bring on the kitchen table. That counts for something, right?

At the urging of some friends Stephen and I took a few bare belly photos. I was told I would regret it if I didn't (not so sure about that). The problem is we bought a really crappy camera to replace the one that was stolen so the pictures did not turn out very good. We bought another camera online that will hopefully get here before the baby and we may try again, but here is one of the few pictures that turned out half way decent.


That's it for now!

39 1/2 Weeks

Wow! Where has the time gone? It really seems like just yesterday I found out we were going to be parents in 9 months. I am still not 100% sure that I am ready for that type of responsibility, but I was raised by some pretty great parents, so finger crossed that good parenting is genetic. I already know that Stephen will be a fabulous father once he gets over the initial shock of the child to poop ratio.
This could be the last prego pic of me because, as I keep reminding myself, I could go into labor at any moment. I am, however, pretty sure that I'll be late. I fully intend to not rush the process. He'll come out when he's ready and there is no need to rush. We'll see how I feel in a week or two though.

What's new?

I came out negative on the Group B Strep test which is really exciting. Now I can stay home as long as I want!

We found a pediatrician. One of our friends highly recommended her and while we had some other recommendations we wanted to checkout she was right in line with our views on medicine, she's very easy to talk to, her office is adorable, and most importantly we are running out of time. She gave us a very cool book of basic newborn care in a format that is easy to look up answers to questions.

We sold some old, unused sporting equipment and made $170.00. We used the money for a date night and it was a very nice way to spend the last quiet evening out together for a while.

I can't believe it is possible, but the heartburn is getting worse. I also have a cough that will not go away and it is making the heartburn worse. That or the heartburn is making the cough worse. Either way it is no fun.

That being said I really feel great for being practically 40 weeks. I walked a 5k on Sunday and it was so easy I walked to get breakfast and back adding another mile. I did come home a take a nap though.

We had the car seat lady come and bestow lots of safety information upon us. She showed us how to install the car seat properly. I am sad to say that I am one of the 90% of people who did it incorrectly. She also gave us some gardening tips.

I have had no signs whatsoever of labor. I would settle for one sure braxton hicks contraction. I would just like to know my body is thinking about having a baby in the next couple weeks.

I guess that's it for now. I will most likely update after my next appointment on Friday unless the baby comes before then. Until then I am hoping to God that my nesting instinct kicks in because I am so unmotivated to get anything done.

Still left to do:

Pack hospital bag
Clean house
Set up nursery
Finish painting kitchen

Quick update

Went to the doctor today and everything is going great! The baby is head down and -1 which means it is relatively low in my pelvis. The midwife said that it means that the baby is more likely to be on time. No guarantees though. She also says he feels like he will be average size which is 7 1/2 pounds.

Oh yeah. I had the Strep B test. I wouldn't call it comfortable, but it is important. I'll find out next week if I passed or failed. Fingers crossed.

37 Weeks!

As of Friday I am technically full term. As of today I have 20 days left. We were aiming for the 18th, but Stephen told me just now that he doesn't want to do the load out so I guess we're aiming for the 15th now. Just as a reminder, the 13th is the due date.

I had my review at work on Wednesday and told them I wasn't planning on coming back to work in September. It was very sad for me to actually say it out loud even though I have been thinking about it for a very long time and feel good with the over all decision. I also had a really nice surprise baby shower at work last week. I was very surprised and it was a great treat in the middle of the workday.

While I have sort of finished with work I have had my second cold in about a month so I haven't gotten anything done. Thanks to our many generous friends and family members I think we have everything we need for at least the first month of life. I need of to look at one of those lists of things you must have to make sure I'm not forgetting something super important. Tomorrow I am for sure going to schedule pediatrician meetings. No excuses! We were supposed to buy a car today, but I am still a tiny bit too sick to do anything that annoying and today was day one of catching my cold for Stephen so we decided to lay low instead. Buying a car postponed until Friday.
I have complete confidence in my ability to finish cleaning out the nursery this week. It would be nice if my nesting instinct would kick in already because I have no motivation. This whole pregnancy thing happened way to fast by the way. I think I could use another month or two please.

I have my Group B Strep test tomorrow morning and am super nervous about it. It is apparently extremely common and not really that big a deal if you get treatment for it. The unfortunate thing is that you have to take antibiotics intravenously at least four hours before birth. I really want to not be hooked up to anything during labor and I want to stay home as long as possible, but I also want to have a healthy baby so I will have to make some changes to my ideal birth if I fail the test.

Guess that's it for now. I will most likely post again soon as I am certain to be procrastinating on cleaning the nursery. Here is a picture of me updating the blog taken by Stephen. This shirt used to cover my belly :(

33 weeks

I am 33 Weeks as of Friday and have less than 50 days until the due date. I can't believe how fast it is coming. People keep telling me that soon I will be tired of being pregnant and want it to be over. I still have a little ways to go, but I am very happy to keep the baby inside where I don't have to worry about him.

The past week or so we have been keeping very busy finding a doula. A great website www.doulamatch.net was recommended to me. I figured that 3 would be a good number to interview so I emailed 3 doulas to start and all of them emailed me back to say that they were already booked or we were out of there coverage area. I emailed 3 more and only one of them was available. I decided to email 4 more expecting that some of them wouldn't work out. this time all of them were interested. So we got to meet 5 awesome doulas and we loved them all. I made fact sheets for each doula that had their pros and cons listed to help us make the decision . We ended up going with a woman named Jennifer who we both really liked and felt really comfortable with. Her website is www.bellytobabies.com and a link to a snippet on doula benefits is http://www.dona.org/mothers/why_use_a_doula.php for those of you who might not know what a doula does. Tomorrow we will start the process of interviewing pediatricians.

Lots of nesting still to do with the house, but the nursery is almost cleaned out. Just have to find a few more nooks and crannies to put all the stuff that used to be in that room. Then we can start the setting up and decorating which will be much more fun.

The 33 week report: Buddy is over 4 pounds and around 17 inches from head to toe. His skeleton is starting to harden and he is rapidly gaining weight. I am also rapidly gaining weight now that you mention it, but I am still comfortable.

Stephen Says: Buddy is moving around a lot now, and when Lauren asks me to feel her belly I don't have to wait for 5 minutes for something to happen anymore. He stretches a lot and moves around a ton, and I can't believe she deals with that all day long every day.

That's all to report for now.

I should have more done by now.

I am 32 weeks today. That means I only have 8 weeks left. We haven't knocked much off the to do list, but we have a bunch of doula interviews scheduled this coming week.

Buddy is moving around like crazy! He pretty much only stops moving for the five minutes following me telling someone to watch my belly. He is around 3 pounds 11 ounces and 16 inches long. He hiccups a lot and steps on my bladder all the time. Other things the baby spends his time doing is blinking, grabbing things, making faces, peeing and listening to all the noises around.

I have gained 15 pounds, but I can't remember my belly measurement. My blood pressure is good. I passed my glucose test. And my hemoglobins are carrying lots of iron and oxygen to the baby. All in all I am feeling great.

30 Weeks!

So here is what I'm a little uncomfortable with... In 30 weeks the baby grew from the size of a head of a pin to about 2 3/4 pounds. Now in about 10 weeks the baby is going to gain about 4 3/4 pounds. Umm? That seems a little silly. I think maybe I will try to spread it out over another 30 weeks. That will give me more time to get the house in order too.

I am feeling fantastic! I haven't had any recurrences of back pain in months thanks to sitting on my yoga ball at work. I have had pretty much the worst heartburn ever, but that is usually manageable by either taking papaya enzymes with my meals or tums after the meals. I also learned a trick on some bulletin board online. You lay on your left side and breath in deeply so that you open your chest and expand the area around your spine. It takes a couple of minutes but works like a charm . May very well be psychosomatic, but if it works it works. I just started feeling the baby hiccup which is fun except when I'm trying to fall back asleep after getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and get a snack.

We have another few weeks of baby classes to go. This week we talk about pain medication and the postpartum. After reading the assigned chapters about the risks and inconveniences of the epidural and other regular birth medications I am even more set on a natural birth. Hopefully I can pull it off! The postpartum chapter wasn't much more uplifting. The changes that happen in the weeks following labor are more terrifying then the changes that happen while you are pregnant. If you have had a baby you know all about it, if you haven't... trust me, you don't want to know! I told Stephen he may want to only read the sections on depression and family changes. The following weeks are breastfeeding and newborn care. I'll be sure to let you all know how Stephen does changing the diaper on a doll.

Things still on the list:

1. Finish purging the babies room of extraneous office and craft supplies.
2. Buy baby essentials. We are so very lucky to have friends who are very generous with the hand-me-downs so we may not need much at all.
3. Finish painting the ceiling in the kitchen (yes it has nothing to do with baby, but I still really want to get it done).
4. Find a doula.
5. Find a pediatrician. I guess some most hospitals won't let you leave unless you have your first appointment scheduled. We haven't really decided where we stand on the vaccine thing yet so we need to find one that is open minded.

Instead of doing any of these things on my day off I am going to go plant some seeds in the garden and mow the lawn. Everything else can wait until after opening night.


Here is a video of the baby moving around from my perspective. It's a little creepy but I'm trying to learn how to use the camera/software before the baby arrives.

I hope I pasted the test!

Today I took a glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. I had to drink something called glucola which is a lime flavored sugar syrup and then get my blood drawn an hour later. It gave me one heck of a sugar high and then I was very sleepy a few hours later. I find out if I passed tomorrow. If I fail I have to take then three hour test which means I have to get my blood drawn 3 times over the course of three hours. Yuck! I don't want to spend that much time at the doctor unless I'm actually in labor.

Our appointment with the midwife this morning was really nice. I am right on track for weight gain and fundal height (the top of the uterus). We also got to hear more than just a heartbeat today. We got to hear the sound of his heart valves opening and closing. It was really cool.

We had our second childbirth class this week really enjoyed it. The instructor does a very good job of dividing up the class so that we don't get bored over the two hours. At the end of class we did a lot of breathing exercises. It reminded me of Bill Cosby. We had to read 9 chapters of the book before class and I barely finished. Stephen finished days before me. The first few chapters where about basic pregnancy stuff like nutrition a lot of dos and don'ts. I knew most of it from other books, but was amazed with how little I knew about labor. I had no idea that there are so many stages and how different they are. Even though I know it's not going to be the the most fun time of my life I am excited to experience it for myself. Stephen seems to be enjoying the class and the entire experience. I feel very lucky that he is happy to be involved.

We have a few major things on our to do list the next couple of weeks.

1. Clean out the room that is to become the nursery.

2. Find a doula

3. Find a pediatrician.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading!

Second Trimester Over

Today is the start of the third trimester! 92 more days to go! I am feeling great, but the last few days I've been a bit tired. Stephen says I'm not eating enough, but I think it's just the weather. We had a couple of weeks of awesome early spring weather and it has turn a little gloomy with no hope of a sunny day soon. I am very excited to be going to California for a few days to soak up some sun and visit the family.

We had our first childbirth class this week and they gave us tons of homework. Who knew? Luckily I have already read most of the book because a friend had recommended it to me, but there is still exercising and relaxation techniques that we are supposed to do every day. The relaxation is the hardest part for me because I can't stop thinking about all the things that I have to get done. Stephen is doing a great job with the reading and I am lucky to not be one of the few women in the class whose partners aren't happy about being there. I am also supposed to track what I eat for three days in a row before class on Monday. I guess when I'm done I need to remember what I have eaten today. At least I have been doing the exercises regularly.

Buddy is supposedly 2 pounds and 15 inches long this week. I am not sure how that is possible but when I look at my belly, but when I feel him wiggling around sometimes I feel like he is much bigger. At first I worried that the cord was wrapped around his neck and he was struggling with all his might to get it free, but then I read someone compare kicking to a rabid mongoose flipping out inside a burlap sack and I felt much better. Oh, he can open and close his eyelids, hear voices, and see bright lights.

I am doing very well and even though I am leaving what is supposed to be the most comfortable time in pregnancy I am hoping that it will stay pleasant for another month to make up for morning sickness into the beginning of the second trimester.

Due to lots of stretching I have been able to keep the back pain to a minimum and I haven't had any of the other weird pains yet, but oh the heartburn. It doesn't even matter what I eat. Toast can give me heartburn and even water sometimes will cause major pain. I've been taking Papaya Enzymes which help a lot when I remember to take them. I am just hoping it doesn't get too much worse as the baby grows.

That's all to report for now. I have my glucose test next week so I will report on the yucky drink and sugar high soon.

I thought you had to have a shower to get stuff.

I am so blessed with all the hand me downs and gifts that our amazing friends have been bestowing upon us in the past few weeks. While we still have a ton of stuff to do we at least have some clothing to put him in, a place to change him, and some baby containment units.

On Friday little Buddy turned 24 weeks old. That is a huge milestone medically because if for some terrible reason he decided he needed to come out into the world early, his little lungs are now developed enough that he would have a fighting chance at survival. He is also about a foot long. Ironically I think I ate 3 hot dogs that day which added up to about a foot (don't worry they were nitrate free organic turkey dogs that were heated until steaming hot).

Other milestones Buddy should have passed in the last few weeks:

His facial feature are already defined to the extent that if we got a 3D ultrasound we could find out whose nose he has.

He can suck his thumb and open and close his eyes.

His taste buds are developed and as he swallows amniotic fluid he can tell if I ate a lot of garlic or chili peppers (sorry little buddy).

He is also kicking a lot. Other people are able to feel it pretty easily now and I have been able to see it as well (I am a little concerned an alien might pop out of my stomach).

Now some things about me:

I am feeling fantastic except for a bit of back pain that has gotten much better as I follow the stretching regiment of my awesome midwife (I'm not as dedicated as I ought to be).

I am no longer able to wear my regular jeans even with multiple hairbands holding them together.

I still don't look pregnant to people who don't know me, but I feel like my belly is huge!

I am starting to get used to random tap dances on my bladder.

I am starting to feel like the baby may have to sleep in our room forever because eliminating all the stuff in the most cluttered room of the house seems like an never ending task.

I am looking forward to starting childbirth classes in a few weeks so that I can hear other people stress about the same things I am.

I am not looking forward to my next appointment where I get screened for gestational diabetes. Luckily I don't have to fast for this test, but I do have to drink a very sweet, yucky and not small beverage.

That's it for now. Below is a picture of a 24 week old preemie. Stay in there a bit longer Buddy!

Belly Progress

The belly is getting a little bit bigger.

Tonight we had our first meeting with a Bradley Birth educator named Emily. She went over nutrition and exercises. She also helped us to start thinking about what kind of birth we want to have and how to give ourselves the best chance to achieve it.

In other big news... While the little bugger has been dancing on my bladder for the past week, Stephen felt a kick for the first time tonight. I told him to come feel my stomach because I felt a few strong kicks in a row and he felt a big kick right away. There were a couple more soft kicks he couldn't feel then the baby went to sleep. I'm sure there will be many more kicks to come. Stephen says "It was cool, but a little bizarre". He is looking forward to feeling more kicks. I will try to post again after our appointment with the midwife next week.

I'm not fat! I'm pregnant!

As promised. Here is the first belly shot. Even though there isn't much there, the baby was estimated to be 12oz, which is on the big side for his age. I haven't been able to button my pants for a while and have been getting by by wrapping hair ties between the button and the buttonhole. Soon I'll be able to wear maternity clothes, but for now they pretty much just fall down.

The pregnancy is going very well so far. I am planning to start prenatal yoga this week and we will soon be registering for childbirth classes.

We toured our birthing center this week as well and it seems like it will be a very nice place to have a baby and hang out for a day or so. You can take a virtual tour at http://www.valleymed.org/Our_Services/Childbirth/Birth_Center.htm

More belly pics soon!

Buddy's First Present

Our Ultrasound

This morning we had our first ultrasound. It was very exciting to see our little Buddy, as we are calling him for the time being, squirming around. He is very active! Oh yeah... It's a boy! Everything seems to be in working order. He has ten fingers and ten toes. Seeing the heart beating was especially neat.

Below are all of the ultrasound photos except for the "it's a boy one". We thought that might be an invasion of his privacy. The pictures are a little small and Stephen says that it's much easier to tell what things are when they are moving around.