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Seattle Parents

And the best thing about having your baby in Seattle? Is it having eight top-notch medical facilities within 30 minutes of your house? Is it the modern, natural approach to childbirth practiced here? Is it the wireless technology in every room that lets you spend all day doing worthless blog posts? No, it's the fact that you can get excellent take out pho about 2 minutes from your hospital bed!

You Born Today

Some famous people born on May 28th:
William Pitt the Younger (English prime minister), 1759
Edvard Benes (Czech politician), 1884
Jim Thorpe (Olympic athlete), 1888
Ian Fleming (Creator of James Bond), 1908
T-Bone Walker (Musician), 1910
Dionne quintuplets (Canadian fivesome), 1934
Rudy Guiliani (Lazy campaigner), 1944
Gladys Knight (Chief Pip), 1944
John Fogerty (Member of Credence Clearwater Revival), 1945
Wendy O. Williams (Punk), 1949
Kirk Gibson (Baseball player), 1957
Chris Ballew (President of the USA), 1965
Kylie Minogue (Australian entertainer), 1968
Violet Demetrescu (Tiny baby), 2008

Famous events on May 28th:
1588 - The Spanish Armada sets sail from Lisbon
1754 - Start of French & Indian/Seven Years War
1930 - Chrysler Building opens in New York City
1937 - The Golden Gate Bridge is opened
1987 - German teenager Mathias Rust lands a plane in Red Square, ruining the careers of several Soviet generals (some permanently).
Also, several organizations were founded (Sierra Club, Amnesty International and the PLO) and battles fought (Tsushima in the sea of Japan, Narvik in Norway and Goose Green in the Falklands) on this day.

You born today:
You cannot read yet, but you will want someone to clip out this item and save it for when you are old enough. (I didn't write that, but wish I had)

The Great Debate

As people who were at the hospital last night know, while the baby's middle name was never in question, the spelling was. Part of the problem, I think, is that neither of us had really strong feelings on the topic. Then we both had inclinations, just different ones. Now, however, I can announce that the Y's have it: It's "May".

Violet and Friends

First pics of Chick Pea!

Violet May Demetrescu

Happy birthday and welcome to the beautiful Violet May Demetrescu, who was born yesterday (ha!). Here's the data, for the statistically oriented:

Time: 1:54PM
Weight: 8lbs, 9oz
Length: 18"
Head: 13 3/4"
Labor time: About 11 hours

Nicole's water broke about 12:30 in the morning so we knew at that time that May 28th was likely to be the day. The first part of labor went very smoothly, with some intense contractions but up to twenty minutes between. Nicole let me get a couple of hours of sleep and was even able to get a couple of minutes herself between contractions. Grandma Marylee came up to take Wilson; as we were still around at 7AM, however, we ended up putting him in daycare so she could go to her class. We got to the hospital about 9.

Nicole's contractions continued to be long and intense but with lengthy gaps. She was dilated to
8cm (out of 10) when we got here. The nurses were surprised at how smoothly things were going and that Nicole was so composed and calm; three people at different times bizarrely described her cervix as "like butter". One nurse suspected that only a couple of pushes would be needed to deliver. It was even sunny outside. Clearly, nothing was going to go wrong.

The problem was that Violet was posterior, which means that she was facing up rather than down. For whatever reason, this was not detectable until the pushing portion of the birth. That part lasted for a long, long time and took a lot out of Nicole. Our nurse, Jeanette, and our awesome doctor, Chris, were really wonderful and encouraging of her. There was some doubt among the medical professionals in the room--at one point there were five of them working--if she'd be able to deliver the baby unaided and a vacuum pump was readied. They told us later that Nicole had lost 1.5 liters of blood--about twice that lost in a normal delivery. Nicole had to reach down to the core of her being to push, and then was asked to give more and then more. She finally did it however, unaided by devices or painkillers. She said it was the hardest thing she'd ever done, physically. I am extremely proud of her.

Baby Violet had many visitors yesterday. Grandpa Mike, Grandma Karen and Uncle Ryan got in first and spent most of the day here. Aunt Beth, Uncle Jeff, Nono, Grandmother Louise, Grandpa Dan and Wilson soon followed. Wilson was interested in the baby and even more interested in the wooden train that Nicole got him as a hospital gift. He was very well-behaved and OK with not being the center of attention for once. Later on, Grandma Marylee, Aunt Nellie, Amy and Emily from daycare and Nicole's high school friends Jessica, Kelly and Rachel came to visit. It was a zoo and we were very happy that so many people were able to come by.

So now we have a wonderful little baby. Baby and Mommy and I all slept pretty soundly last night, as you can probably imagine.

Water Broke!

Yup, around 12:30am on Wednesday, May 28th, my water broke. I got a full hour of sleep before it happened, courtesy of Dr. Chris and his magical painkillers.

Contractions began shortly thereafter. Things are going pretty slowly, much to my chagrin, but that might be more a result of the magical painkillers than anything. God forbid she have a huge head or something.

I'm pleased to report that the contractions hurt much more than the pelvic pain, so we're probably still go for our original delivery plans.

Anyway, we'll probably have a baby today. Yay!

Owie.

So today as I was leaving the doctor's office, Wilson decided it would be funny to run away from me and dart between parked cars into traffic. I don't move quickly even on a good day, but I was mercifully able to grab him before he ran in front of a speeding Escalade. Aside from the terror and anger and relief I felt when I caught him, I also felt a lot of pain. In my haste to catch him, I hurt myself, and it may have been enough to change the way I deliver Violet.

I fear I may have damaged the cartilage that keeps my pelvis stable. (The specific area I'm referring to is part E in the picture above.) Recall during pregnancy that hormones act to relax the joints in preparation to push out a baby, so I'm pretty vulnerable to injury, especially in the area where my 7+ pound unborn child lives. She's low in my abdomen anyway, putting a lot of pressure on my nether regions, so it would not surprise me at all if that is what happened. Regardless, right now I really hurt. I can hardly walk (especially on stairs, Oh God) and all I can do to fix it right now is take a Tylenol and sit on an ice pack. Yeehaw.

I put in an email to the doctor explaining what happened, and asked him if my suspicion about the injury is correct. It's late and I just sent it, so I won't have news until tomorrow sometime. But if I'm right, and I really really really hope I am not, things might be a little more uncertain than they were before. I mean, I want a natural childbirth and all, but I'm not stupid. I do well with pain in general and especially well with the purposeful (like exercise discomfort and, well, childbirth). But injury pain is something different. I don't believe in unnecessary suffering.

What am I saying? I'm saying if this baby comes in the next couple of days, and I'm still hurting as badly as I am hurting today, there's a good chance I will consider getting an epidural. Because compounding the already intense discomfort of childbirth with the searing soreness of newly damaged pelvic cartilage is just too damn much, even for me. Here's hoping I just strained some ligaments, and that a couple days of rest and ice will be enough to get me to deliver Violet the way I would prefer. If not, well, as I say to my other pregnant friends, the point is to have a healthy baby. The journey getting there doesn't really matter.

False Alarm.

Well, she did it again. This time she was a little more serious about it, but it resulted in the same conclusion -- hours of labor, high hopes, but no baby.

So last night around 8:30pm I started having contractions. They weren't very painful, but as I watched the clock over the subsequent half-hour, it turned out they were coming every 5 minutes. We kept timing them and they were very regular, and fit into the criteria of "call the doc" -- 1 minute long, 5 minutes apart for 1 hour. We called my folks and they came and got Wilson, and then we called the doctor who said that since I wasn't really in pain (they were uncomfortable, but not like labor with Wilson) that we should wait a little longer before coming in. (For anyone who finds that suspicious, I should mention he gave me the option to come in, but since I hope for another intervention-free childbirth, I declined. The last thing I wanted was them to admit me before I was ready to be admitted. Ya know?)

So I went to bed hoping to get some rest before having to get to the really hard part. And the next thing I know? It's 5 am and there's not a contraction in sight.

Cue sadness. I was so depressed today. To cheer me up, Josh took me out for a blueberry pancake breakfast, and it helped a little. Then he wisely refused to let me lay around and mope all day, so he bought me a book and took me to lunch and I have slowly come back to myself. (He is a good man, isn't he?) He keeps reminding me that she'll come when she is ready, and to not be discouraged because last night means we're getting closer.

It was so exciting for those few hours last night believing we were finally going to meet our little lady. To snuggle her and smooch her and pinch her tiny toes. But I know she'll be here soon, even if her timing is entirely her own.

Sicky sicky.

The doctor took pity on me and prescribed antibiotics today. Apparently a solid month of illness isn't normal.

Who knew?

Baby Update: 38 Weeks.

Visited the doc today. We've progressed! (Yay!) I'm now at 3+ cm and 75% effaced. The doc also "swept" my membranes, a technique which may help speed along the dilation/effacement/gettin'-labor-started process. We shall see. What I can say for sure is that this baby is loooooooooow....it is unbelievably difficult just to walk, let alone stand up, sit down or try to pee.

We just checked the old blog, and found that we were at this very same place exactly 4 days before Wilson was born. Not that y'all should expect her to come on Friday or anything, but hey, anything's possible...

Yet Another Reason to Wait.

So I got this cold, like, almost two weeks ago, and thought I was getting better. And then yesterday and today I started feeling all lousy again, and now I can't stop the ickyness! Another cold? Sinus infection? Whatever it is, it SUCKS...especially because I had a Chem test today and had to sit there, sniffling and sneezing, while trying to draw molecules and differentiate between ketones and aldehydes. NOT COOL.

Anyway...whatever.

"So, Violet! Heed yo' mama! Hold yer horses and do NOT come barging into the world just yet...it would be nice to get to hold you and snuggle you close without worrying about sneezing into your tiny newborn face. Or bathing in sanitizer for days on end..."

Who Pea?

So more than one person has asked us recently to clarify our "pea" nicknames. Here's the breakdown:

Nicole = Swee
Wilson = small pea born of Swee, therefore, "Swee Pea"
Violet = small pea to-be-born of Swee, but Swee Pea already taken...so, "Wee Pea" then "She Pea" and now "Chick Pea"

Josh is not a pea. Or a swee. Just a he.

Baby Update: 37 weeks.

So we're technically full-term now, which means anytime little baby girl wants to come out, she's free to. Although seriously, she is actually welcome to come a week late because then I could finish my classes and maybe vacuum the nursery first.

We saw the doc on Tuesday, and he gave us some interesting news. First, I have not progressed in dilation or effacement at all this past week. Still 2.5cm, still 50%.

Sad. But oh well.

Second, y'all know how huge I am? Like, as the Safeway checker pointed out to me this morning, I look like I'm carrying five babies in there? Doc says I'm carrying around lots and lots of fluid. Which is good. Maybe I won't give birth to a Thanksgiving turkey after all. And maybe that means some of that 50 pounds gained might disappear faster than I expected... (hey, a girl can dream, okay!?)

So, there you have it. Average-sized baby disguised as holiday fowl and feeling stubborn about coming out too. Lovely. She already takes after her father.

Belly Pictures.

Okay! So! We took belly pictures again. We hope to take some more with Wilson before I pop, but we'll see.

I was 33 weeks when these were taken, and I'm 37 weeks currently. I'm noticeably bigger now...

Belly 2 Pictures

Super In-Law.

Remember weeks ago when I mentioned my [cookie]lust over thin mints? And how all the wretched little girl scouts went into hiding about thirty-six hours after beginning the cookie sale? Well my father-in-law found one of them hiding in the gulches of Helena, Montana. AND he managed not only to wrestle a box of the beloved minty goodies from her (well, actually, from her father, but that's another story), he even delivered them to me personally when visiting this past week.

Many thoughtful gifts have found their way to me in recent history, but few will be as fondly remembered as this one.

Love ya, Paul. *mwah*

Turtle Mode.

So anyone who knows me well knows how much I obsess over organization. (Case in point, my family purchased a virtual buttload of baskets and organizational products for me as shower gifts.) So you may not be surprised to hear that the "nesting" instinct has an exponentially obnoxious effect upon me -- I organize not just the baby's room and things, but anything and everything (and anyone and everyone) that falls into my sphere of influence. It's obnoxious. Avoid me. Really.

Anyway, one of the interesting side effects of this whole nesting thing is how it impacts my socialization. I've noticed this in other pregnant women too, and certainly remember it in myself when I was getting close to having Wilson. That side effect is what I think of as "turtle mode", a time when all focus and energy moves inward in preparation for little baby's arrival, often at the cost of social engagement, even with close family and friends.

I'm not saying I'm going to tuck my head in and not talk to anyone for the next four weeks. But y'all should know that my every waking thought is pretty much dominated by images of plump baby girls and nursing bras and postpartum belly sag and anxiety over when she'll actually arrive and if I bought enough bottles of Desitin and is her coming home outfit the perfect one? (I'm sure I don't need to detail out for you how this is affecting my studies...) It makes it a challenge to be motivated to do much more than daydream and fulfill my basic daily duties.

So if I seem really distracted or disengaged, please don't take it personally. It'll be over soon. I'm just doing what I think that most late-term pregnant people do -- tucking in and making sure our nests are ready for hatchlings!

Baby Update: 36 weeks.

Hello! So little Chick Pea (as I dubbed her recently) is now 36 weeks old, gestational time. Based on the strength of her kicks, she's steadily getting fatter and stronger, and is right on the money with her measurements!

Saw the Doc today. I'm 2.5cm dilated and 50% effaced, which for the uninitiated means I'm a quarter of the way to being ready to push the baby out (literally) and she's halfway down the first leg of the journey. Good baby!

While I would be thrilled to have her arrive at, really, any time, I am resolved to her being on time. Perhaps even late. The truth is I have so much to do between now and early June that if she decided to wait that long, while I would be exhausted from lack of sleep (it's really hard) and barely able to move (I'm that huge), it would be okay. Because then I wouldn't need to take a nursing infant into an organic chemistry final, for example.

Anyway, good news! We're making progress!

Good baby!