A Week Ago Today...

At 10pm tonight, a week will have passed since I went into labor. Ryan and I had gone to bed to read around 9, and as soon as he shut out the light an hour later, my first contraction hit.

Lisa: Ryan, I think this is it.
Ryan: Well, then you should just go to sleep.

Now, to be fair, he was simply parroting the instruction our Bradley Method Instructor gave us, that in early labor, you want to sleep, shower, eat, on rotation, as long as you can. That is because first time moms typically have 8-12 hours of early labor, before the onset of active labor. As soon as that first contraction hit though, I knew this was going to move more quickly.

So I let him get his sleep; he'd have a long night/morning ahead of him too, and went to take a shower. The pain was already severe enough that I knew this was going to go very quickly and that I wouldn't get another shower in for a while. I was right. I dried my hair then went downstairs to start hydrating myself and timing contractions. 3-5 minutes apart, 40-80 seconds in length, and the pain started to be unbearable. I had to wake Ryan up for his help at midnight.

That is where I will leave it until tomorrow, which will be one week since the birth of my beautiful baby girl.

Milk Drunk

Tummy Time

Ellie is supposed to spend a little time on her tummy each day to encourage her to use her arm and neck muscles; we hired the puppies to provide some tutorial services.

Ellie, in 3 months

Ryan, at 3 months.

Shoes!

She doesn't do that much of this

Sleeping, that is. But she looks good when she does.

Baby eats like a champion. Rough on mom, but she's gaining weight.

-Ryan

Puppies and Toes

Having Ellie home is great. I never really understood it when people said things were so cute that they wanted to eat them, like baby toes. Now I do. So does Augie.

Eleanor Anne Avent

Born February 19, 2010 at 1:27 p.m. weighing 8 pounds, 10 ounces, 21 inches long.

I Can't Believe It

It's not that I can't believe I'm in labor, it's that I can't believe I'm posting here that I am. We will be heading to the hospital soon.

Progress

It looks like all these false labor contractions aren't going to waste; according to my midwife, I'm now 2-3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. We're obviously hoping that means labor is imminent, though she did say the dirty "I" word at my appointment this morning: INDUCTION.

I will be induced on Wednesday, Feb. 24 if nothing happens this week.

So, I'm heading down to Potomac Mills to walk the mile-long mall a few times with my mom, who did call last night to tell me that I need to start having a lot of sex to get labor started. Yes. My mom called me and told me to have a lot of sex, that is what I said.

Due Date

After months and months of anticipation, my due date is finally here, and.... I'm still pregnant. I'm very uncomfortable, very anxious, and it looks like the first days of my maternity leave will be more like "puppy-momma leave." I've had a few bouts of "false labor," for hours at a time even, but it's just not going anywhere.

New theory: My dad was in the Navy and out to sea on an aircraft carrier when I was born. He didn't see me until I was 3 months old. My dad is scheduled to leave on a business trip to Germany on Friday. If he wasn't here for my birth, he certainly won't be here for Ellie's. Therefore, the latest due date theory is that she will be born on Friday, as soon as my dad's flight takes off, and Laura will win the baby pool.

But can I possibly make it 4 more days without losing my mind?!

Romance

Lisa: My mom asked if we were going out for Valentine's Day.

Ryan: When is that? Is that tomorrow?

So I guess my husband doesn't have any grand, romantic gestures planned for the woman about to give birth to his child.

Yay! No Baby! Now where's that Baby....

As suspicious as the lack of blogging is, it is not indicative of the newest Avent's arrival. And this is a good thing. I've been standing on my head for the past five days to ensure that Eleanor would not be born in our car, on the side of the road, in a snow bank. It worked!

I did make it out during the brief pause between Snowmageddon and Snowver Kill to see my midwife, who assures me labor is in the cards. Apparently I'm "thinning" and "softening" and about a centimeter dilated (thus, the self-prescribed bed rest of the past few days).

Ellie has been very agreeable, apparently listening attentively when I've told her of the extreme inconvenience her birth would cause us during "the worst winter DC has ever seen." I think she's mostly been holding out until it is clear all the grandparents will make it up safely for her debut. Either that or she will use this kind gesture to cash in on future requests like borrowing the car or getting the newest Apple whateverthehellitsgoingtobein10years.

But now I'm a little worried. Does all this wishing she'll stay put doom to me to be the next contender for the longest pregnancy record?

I Had No Idea

10 weeks
At this point, I really wished to be showing more. I thought I didn't look pregnant enough.

18 weeks
Once I reached this stage, I seriously thought I was getting BIG and was worried about how much my stomach was getting stretched out.

39 weeks
There are no words.

Namesake

When people learn the first name we've chosen for our little girl, they always ask, "Is that a family name?" as if the aesthetic qualities or connotations of a certain name are not good enough reasons to choose it. I mean, there are some Eleanors in the family, but no one we are naming our daughter after.

We really just like the name Eleanor.

And I think Eleanor Anne sounds especially nice.

And it really is just a happy coincidence that my daughter will share her first name with the woman who said this. Simply brilliant. I love it.

A Room of One's Own

Are You Ready, Freddy?

As Eleanor's due date (February 15) and what will most likely be her day of birth (February 7, during double-overtime of the most exciting Super Bowl that ever was) approaches, people often ask, "Are you ready?"

I have no idea! And that probably means NO, right? I mean, we own some diapers and some really tiny clothes. But really, how do you get ready for a baby? We don't have many babies to hang out with (though a big shout-out to Leks and Brennan!), so we've really just attempted to read a lot of books, follow some blogs and watch movies about babies and parenting.

Books
The Happiest Baby on the Block - I worry that reading about swaddling and actually swaddling may be somewhat different
What to Expect When You're Expecting - Hey, there are a ton of things to worry about when you are pregnant! Want to learn about them?
The BabyCenter Essential Guide to Pregnancy and Birth - Probably the most useful book I have. It is PACKED with information and gives the weekly updates on baby's and mom's changes, including the ever popular "what fruit does your baby resemble this week" info. She's really a watermelon at this point.
NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children - This is the whole, "don't praise your child" book featured in the Times. Good stuff. Though I will never say that to Eleanor.
The Baby's Owner's Manual: Operating Instructions, Trouble-shooting Tips, and Advice on First Year Maintenance - very fun baby care book from Karen. Lots of clever pictures and language that makes you feel like you've bought a new car as opposed to created a human, which at times is a very welcomed notion. Raising a human is scary! Keeping something well-oiled and clean seems more manageable.
Your Pregnancy Week by Week, A Father's Guide - Even though I got this for Ryan, I definitely read it to make sure that it was as sympathetic to the pregnant woman as I wanted it to be. It was. I appreciated the suggestions to be patient at crazy hormonal crying fits and to give a lot of massages.
Your Baby's First Year, Week by Week - Another, "there could be a lot of things weird and gross and wrong with your baby" but good to hear that a lot of the gross stuff goes away and is normal. I guess?
The Cave Man's Guide to Baby's First Year - Ryan?

Movies
Pregnancy for Dummies
The Business of Being Born
Childbirth from Inside Out
Child Development: The First Two Years
Infant Massage: The Power of Touch
The Medicated Child
Growing Up Online

Anything that was at one point a "Watch Now" movie on Netflix in the "Pregnancy & Parenting" section, I watched. The only one I would've bothered to watch without that subscription is The Business of Being Born, which I made Ryan watch as well. I really credit the film with getting me interested in doing some research on my own about childbirth and the kind of birth experience I wanted to have. It lead to me to take the Bradley Method Childbirth classes and got me to the point I am now: attempting a natural delivery in a hospital with a midwife - the best of both worlds.

Blogs
Giving Birth Naturally
My OB Said What?
The Skeptical OB
Science and Sensibility
Nursing Birth
Stand and Deliver
Unnecesarean: The Blog
The Feminist Breeder

I'm going to be a big brother!

Augie Doggie

Finnegan

38 Week Stats

All of the baby blogs I've run across have these weekly updates, and while I might only have a couple of these left, I thought I'd update everyone on where we're at.

Total weight gain/loss: +40-ish. I know, I know. I'm at man weight. But I'm actually really looking forward to dieting and exercising, so I'm not too worried about getting back down.

Maternity clothes? Because I'm still going into work everyday, I am still squeezing my Ellie Belly into 1 of 3 pairs of work pants that still fit. I've got a pair in black, brown and gray; it does make me kind of wonder why I have 12 pairs of pre-pregnancy black pants.

Sleep: Horrible. Between getting up every hour to pee, my numb, carpel tunnel-ridden hands, and my newly-acquired superhero hearing that allows me to know every time one of the dogs shifts his weight from one side of the doggy bed to the other, I have to get into bed by 8:30 to have any hope of feeling moderately rested the next day.

Best moment last week: Going through the labor day plan with my midwife. I've got 4 numbers for this woman saved in my cell phone now!
Movement: She's pretty consistent; every hour or so, Eleanor wakes up for a wiggle. For the most part, her movements are slow and deliberate, but every once in a while, BAM!
Food cravings: Anything and everything salty. Though a blueberry muffin sounds really good right now...

Gender: Girl! While I had a few panicked moments right after doing 6 loads of baby girl laundry that Eleanor was in fact Henry, our last ultrasound told us, for the third time, she's got lady bits!
Labor signs: Nothing really, though there has been an uptick in Braxton Hicks contractions. I'm on the lookout for a mucus plug!

Belly button? Out, and very oddly shaped. I had no idea that it could be trapezoidal.
What I'm looking forward to this week: A baby shower at work. It's a very tiny office, so it will be definitely be awkward to the be the center of attention, but it is a very sweet gesture.
What I miss: Sleeping on my tummy and hugging Ryan without having to turn my stomach to the side.
Weekly wisdom: I am only going to be pregnant for a couple more weeks, MAX, so I need to relax and enjoy the time I have left.
Milestones: I've reached the point in my pregnancy at which Ryan was born - 2 weeks early - but I'm holding her in! My mom is out of town, it's been snowing, and Ryan's got a busy week at work ahead, so I couldn't let her come this weekend. But now I have to wait until AFTER the Super Bowl.

The Reason

I think it should be pretty clear as to why I'm starting a baby blog...

This is Eleanor Anne's latest ultrasound picture. For those of you who feel like you are looking at one of those "Magic Eye" pictures from the 90's, know that you are only looking at little Ellie's face and hand. She's got her fist up against her chin, and in the middle of the picture, you can see her lips and nose - her eyes are really just black spots.

This was taken on January 20, when she was 36 weeks and 2 days. The sono tech guessed she was about 6 1/2 pounds at this point, in the 60th percentile of weight. I am VERY happy to be carrying a big, healthy baby, but considering that she is on track to be 8 1/2 pounds on her due date, I REALLY hope she doesn't come late. Otherwise, those natural childbirth plans start to seem slightly more terrifying.