First Bath

Lily got her first bath on Monday.

Lillian Jean Atkinson

I began watching the full-moon on Saturday night. Saw the full moon was on Tuesday, the 24th, my best friends birthday, and hoped for the best. On Monday morning I woke up early with what I thought were contractions. They lasted all day but weren't overly regular or extremely painful. I went ahead and asked Kevin to stay home from work on Monday. He rides the train to work and not having done this before, I wasn't sure what was going to happen. On Tuesday, I woke up with a lot stronger contractions. They were A LOT different than the ones on Monday and I was sure Tuesday was going to be the day. However, the contractions never got closer than 10 minutes apart.

We headed to my 39 week appointment at 4:00 on Tuesday and went took all of our bags in case we were admitted. Unfortunately, even though I was 80% effaced, I was only 0.5 cm dilated. I was sorely disappointed and couldn't believe these contractions I had been having were doing nothing. At this point I was sure I was going to have contractions for the rest of the week and Baby might come on Saturday. The mid-wife sent us home and suggested we come back when the contractions were 3 minutes apart and I was "really huffing and puffing." I felt like she was telling me that what I had been experiencing weren't real contractions.

I continued to have regular contractions throughout the night. This was my second night with contractions and I didn't get much sleep at all. It was, however, nice to be in my own bed. By 5:00 a.m. the contractions had gotten a lot stronger and were now 5 minutes apart. By 7:00 am we were still at 4 or 5 minutes, but they were lasting 2 minutes in length. At this point, I was sure I was only at maybe 4 centimeters and if these contractions were this painful, I was going to have to have an epidural because I wouldn't be able to handle the pain. At 8:30 I told Kevin to call the hospital to let them know we were coming. Unfortunately, the contractions were coming so hard and so fast, it took us a half an hour to get out the door. I was laboring really hard at this point and although my Mom knew I was really far along, I truly expected to be only half way there. Kevin and Mom were great at home coaches forcing me to relax and breathe. When I finally got down stairs my water broke. We begin to scramble.

Poor Kevin, I know I made him nervous. Mom is in the back seat trying to make me breathe. Kevin is running red lights as we have to get to Kaiser Riverside which is about 20 minutes away. Kevin avoids the security line to get into the hospital; I rolled down the window to let the guard know I was not about to wait for him to waive us in. Kevin runs in to get a wheel chair and he and I head in while Mom parks the van. I begin panting to prevent any pushing. We ran into the Labor and Delivery Director on our way who helped us get into a room right away.

When we got to the labor room, the mid-wife (Nancy) asked me if I would be able to use the bathroom before I got on the table. I said no. They quickly got me into a gown and I was on the table by 9:30 am. She took one look and said, ok, you are complete! The got my IV in, washed me, and said I could push whenever I felt like it. Nancy was very impressed with all of Baby's hair and kept playing with it. I had maybe 8 contractions of pushing and Baby was out. At this point I still didn't know if I had delivered a boy or a girl. Kevin was supposed to make the announcement, but with all that was going on, he couldn't see. I finally asked him, "What did we have?" He was so taken with everything he was still trying to process. But he finally made the announcement, "It's a girl."

From there I got to hold her for a few moments before the took her to be weighed, measured, and overall checked.

She looks like an Atkinson (technically a Rookus); nose, eyes and coloring. However, my mother will argue that the cheeks and square face look just like mine did at birth. We'll see how she changes.

We were to our recovery room by noon. Kevin was in charge of one end, and I the other; I fed, he changed diapers. Poor guy though, those first few diapers are pretty disgusting.

We had a double room but never got a roommate so Kevin got his own bed. Baby did really well the first night. The second night was rough at home but third night went really well.

We are enjoying our time as our little family, and my mom is a wonderful help.

Lillian Jean Atkinson was born Wednesday, August 25, 2010 at 10:19 a.m.

8 pounds, 5 ounces, 21 inches long

Lillian was Kevin's paternal grandmother's name, and Jean is now a fourth generation middle name on my maternal side.

Here are a few pictures - the rest are on facebook!

Nine Month Pedicures

As she did with Rachel in May, Mom took Rachel and I out for pedicures. Granted, I get more excited about the massage chair than I do the pedicure. But the time was nice and relaxing.

As a side note, I call this the Great Pumpkin Shirt. It's big in the shoulders, but it is one of the few that fits around the belly and is long enough.

Rachel said she enjoyed doing this not being pregnant.

The Sugar Mama.
Mom is extremely ticklish.

Thanks, Mom. I enjoyed the pedicure and the company.

Baby's Nursery

It has taken me 3 days to download the pictures for this blog due to intermittent internet but I wanted to show you Baby's nursery.

My Uncle Mike and Cousin Mike (Mikey to family) came down to Riverside with my Aunt, Cousin, and Grandmother for my shower. We bribed them with golf if they painted Baby's room while we were at the shower. I had originally picked out vinyl stickers on Etsy but the would end up spending close to $300. So my family offered to do it for free. I picked out a couple of pictures on the web and the boys projected them on the wall as stencils. I love the way they turned out.

I really wanted this shelf but there was very little wall space left in the little room. You can see the quilt on the edge of the crib. It was the inspiration for the room. I picked it out a while ago and then we found it on clearance in May (thanks Mom).

Here is the mobile I decided to use. It was the one my mom attached to my crib as a baby. I wrapped it in ribbon and hung it from the ceiling.

The book shelf filled with both new and used books. Many were given to us at the shower, some are mine, and some are from Grandma and Papa Rookus. The baskets on the window seat hold toys, both new and used.

On top of the shelf is my teddy bear with the button from the hospital where Kevin was born. The silver cup is mine with my birth stats on it; August 14, 1981, 8 pounds, 1 ounce, 21 inches, 10:35 am. The shoe on the left was from Great-Papa Rookus from the 1920's and the shoe on the right is from Great Aunt Kathy from the 1940's.

This is a four generation picture of my G.G., Mimi, Mama, and me when I was about a year old.

Our little dresser from Ikea that Kevin put together. I like the little baskets we found at Babies R Us; they match the shelf. I've had that lamp forever but bought a new shade so I decided to spray paint the lamp. It's a little brighter than anticipated but the room could use some color.

Lots and lots of onesies. All hand-me-downs.

More clothes.

This is an old night stand that was given to me years ago as a hand-me-down. It was a blond wood. So I sanded it and spray painted it white. The box on top was a gift from a friend from Africa. It's hard to tell, but there are giraffes carved on it.

A little touch of giraffe print.

We still have a large blank wall that we don't really know what to do with. We probably will end up doing something with Baby's name; as soon as we pick one . . .

And we wait . . .

Today I am 38 weeks and 4 days and nothing. Nothing is happening. No regular contractions. No news to report. Which I am surprisingly okay with. I have ten days to my due date and I am not in a rush. I'm definitely slower than last week. Last week I did a lot more projects and activities. This week (really since Saturday) I feel slower. I still have a lot of projects I want to get done, and yet I feel less motivated to do them.

Today was a real bum day; I think the only productive thing I did was wash dishes. Oh, and went to the doctor. It was fine except that we did nothing but listen to the heart beat and take all my measurements but it took over an hour. It has to do with having a resident as my primary, and it never bothered me until today. I was really antsy. And because he didn't check anything else, I really have no idea if I am getting closer or not. But since contractions are still high and not painful, we are going to assume my body is still practicing.

I am starting to get annoyed with my weight gain. By the time we are done I will hit 40 pounds. It was a lot more than I wanted but it doesn't seem to matter what I eat or don't eat. There are things I will do different next time. But hindsight is always 20/20. I'm interested to see how quickly this comes off. And I am determined that this all has to come off. Mostly because I will not have the money to buy new regular clothes, or bigger maternity clothes for next time. It's all things I don't need to worry about, but it does occasionally cross my mind; mostly when I had to the doctor to weigh in.

But the boys and I hang out at home and avoid the heat. When I sit someone will bring me ball or a rope wanting to play. They are good boys and are almost to the point where they don't feel the need to follow me around the house. And I know that dogs sleep a lot, but I am impressed with how they can be so lazy. On Saturday we took them to the park and they wore out pretty quick. I really need to take them more often, especially since Charlie is getting a little thick, but I can't really take them alone while pregnant, they are just too big to hold on to both. They are good boys though. They do really well with our nieces and nephews; we are still working on Bubba not to clean them with his crazy tongue. I am interested to see how they do with our little one; they get really anxious when they hear babies cry. I expect after a few days, they'll get used to it.

Long Boring Update

This is the boring post that you skip over the first couple of times on your list of updates simply because of the lack of pictures. Don't worry, I do it to your blog all the time. Eventually I go back and read it; but only after I look at all of the updated blogs that have pictures.

I am in the home stretch; 38 weeks tomorrow. Monday was my first day off of work, and I am enjoying myself. I've baked, cleaned, shopped, and everything else domestic. I still have quite a long list of chores and projects to complete, most of which I am sure won't happen before Baby gets here. I've become more swollen this week which means about every hour and a half I take a 30 minute break or so. I've become very thirsty all the time which means I now have to use the rest room every 45 minutes.

I have filled my deep freeze with fruit, vegetables, meats, and breads. I've made and frozen cookies. Sliced and frozen fruit (this one takes longer since I freeze the pieces individually so that they don't stick together before placing them in a freezer bag. And sliced fresh sourdough bread so we can pull out a couple pieces at a time. Hopefully we don't have to do a ton of shopping right after Baby comes. But if Baby is 2 weeks late, we may have to restock. I already pulled out the enchiladas I had made so Kevin could have lunches for the next few days. He gets really excited about leftovers. This coming from the man who bought lunch every day until we got married. At first I told him the budget would not afford it and he was excited to save money; now he gets excited to have a semi-home cooked meal for lunch every day. He gets disappointed when he has to buy lunch. He packs his lunch box and carries it with his back pack on the train and bus. It's like grade school all over again.

Last night we went to the Kaiser breast-feeding class. This class went much better that the child-birthing class where I cried all the way home. I thought the class was good and showed good techniques and gave good info, but as with everything dealing with birth, children, and parenting, it looks like we may have to figure it out as we go. Poor first born children; such guinea pigs. I have to admit, though, I fight back tears when I see these clips of mom's and dad's with their babies for the first time. Not the ones where they are acting, but the real footage. I get so choked up it's nauseating.

We have our doctor appointments weekly now. Monday went fine. I'm liking these weekly appointments because I not gaining 4, 8, or 12 pounds between visits. A pound a week I can do. I don't think I have written any info about our doctor. With Kaiser, you are typically assigned to a midwife who you see at all of your appointments. When Kevin and I first went in to Riverside, they asked if we would mind being assigned to one of the residents. Dr. Flores is in his second year of residency and we really like him. For all of our prenatal appointments he is overseen by one of the midwives or OB docs. He usually does his thing, chats with us for a bit, and then whoever is supervising comes in and does the same thing. It makes the appointments kinda long, but I feel like I'm getting a little extra special care. Additionally, Dr. Flores will be called to deliver our baby (unless something happens where he can't be there and the midwife on duty will deliver). Now I'm guessing this means that the midwife will do most of the work and he'll show up to "catch," but it doesn't bother me. Additionally, he now become my primary doc who I will see for any general appointment, as well as our pediatrician. I think it's kinda cool. He's new, so everything is still by the book, but he is 100% supervised, friendly and patient will all of Kevin's questions. Kevin has been able to go to all of the baby appointments, which has been really nice. Especially nice to entertain me while we wait for the midwife to come do the follow up.

On Monday, the doctor and midwife suggested that Kevin and I both get our DTaP booster because of the whooping cough outbreak in California. I said that was fine. I think it's been more than 10 years since I have had a tetanus shot anyway. Since being pregnant (and trying to get pregnant) I've had my blood drawn multiple times (still have the bruise from a week and a half ago) and had both my flu and H1N1 vaccines. Kevin, however, has not, and as soon as they said he should get the booster too, his palms started getting sweaty. The shot was easy; a much smaller need than the blood draw one. However, I got sick. Yesterday, Bethany and I went out in the morning, but by 11:30 I was not feeling so hot. I was achy, chilled, had an upset stomach, and was really tired (a different tired than my pregnancy tired). I kinda started to get worried until I remembered the shot yesterday. I know that it is common for babies to run a low-grade fever after shots so I dug through my purse for the paper the nurse gave me. Sure enough, my symptoms were all listed on the paper. I opened our fancy new ear thermometer we were given for Baby and tried it out. I was a little high but nothing to be concerned about. I was, however, lazy the rest of the day.

Today I made up for it. I baked date bars from scratch and even cooked the filling for the middle. Cleaned the kitchen. Bathed the boys. Vacuumed up and downstairs, and even the stairs themselves. I washed curtains. Vacuumed the couch. Cleaned window sills. Washed towels. Vacuumed the dog bed. Now, however, I am sitting with my feet up, writing this dreadfully boring post of things I will want to remember one day.

Tonight it's off to Costco to do some more stocking before Baby comes.