9 weeks old

Gwen had her 2 month doctors appointment today and she's doing great! She's up to 10lbs 7oz and is 23.5in long (starting to fatten up a bit!). She had to have two shots today which I was dreading but she did great with. There was definitely some protest when the shot was happening but she returned to her normal happy state after a minute. Since then she has been zonked out (those shots can be stressful!).

Oh how time is flying by...I can't believe she's already 9 weeks old! I also can't believe how great she is. Since she started smiling at about 2 weeks she has been such a happy baby. She absolutely loves laying on her changing table where she can kick her little legs feverishly and look you in the eye and smile her huge toothless grins. She also loves her bouncy 'kick and play' chair and her new play mat that gramma bought her. She is still eating about every 3-4 hours and we're now getting about 2 hours of playtime during the day with hour long naps. Lucky for us though she has been sleeping 6-7 hours (with one 8 hour stretch) at night for about 4-3 weeks now. Amazingly she only cries when she has gas (not even for a dirty diaper)....but boy, when she has gas she really has gas.

Since the last post here are some of her adventures:
- We had our first shopping trip with gramma a few weeks ago. She made it through a 4 hour shopping trip and lunch at the Cheesecake Factory...way to go girl!
- We hired nanny Sarah to take care of her during the week when mom goes back to work on January 4th (booo....)
- We had our first downtown outing yesterday when we went to visit Kate and Mark...we even had dinner out on the town.

Can't wait for our first Thanksgiving this Thursday! Enjoy a few more photos:

Happy Halloween!!

It was a yucky day in virginia today but we had a great time!! Boo!

Our little lobster:

The pre-halloween skeleton outfit (note the diaper hat)

The Full Labor & Delivery Story

Sunday, September 20th - 41 weeks 1 day
6pm - As scheduled, James and I arrived at Fair Oaks Hospital for the first part of the scheduled induction process. This first visit was to to have 'p-gel' administered in order to open my cervix which had been 50% effaced and 0cm dilated for over 2 weeks. When we arrived we were checked in, I was put in a gown and the nurse started talking about an overnight stay which we weren't anticipating at all and hadn't brought any of our things. We were told the dr. was delayed but would be in around 7pm so we made ourselves comfortable and watched some TV.

8pm - A little later than anticipated, Dr. Wertheim, a very business only dr but a good one, arrived. Fortunately we didn't have to stay overnight (they had confused us with another induction where they were going to use cervidil...glad I said something!) but we did have to stay an hour so I could be monitored before they sent us home.

9:30pm - We were finally outta there. We were starving so we headed over to dunkin donuts to pick up a few dozen for the nurses the next morning and McDonalds for us (it was the only thing still open at 10pm but it was gooood). When we got home we settled in and tried as best we could to sleep but it was pretty unsuccessful for me...it's like trying to sleep on Christmas Eve while having menstrual cramps. I got about 3 hours...so much for our last good night of sleep!

Monday, September 21st - 41 weeks, 2 days - 9 days overdue
6am - We arrived at the hospital (with all of our stuff this time) on time, as the doctor stressed (the nurses loved the donuts). The dr was nowhere to be seen though. We were ushered into our room (room #1...it was huge!) and I got into my gown and they put the monitors on my belly. Since the doctor hadn't arrived, James and I tried to nap while we waited.

8am - the doctor finally arrived and checked my cervix. Only at 2.5 cm but apparently I was contracting every 2-3 min (they were so mild that I had no idea). So, with that he began manually working it open with his hand...which was very, very unpleasant. Without notice he broke my water (I knew it was going to happen eventually, I just hadn't known it was happening THEN) and asked the nurse to begin pitosin to get things moving. All in all his visit was under 30 min so we went from 0-60MPH in no time. I was told that I could have an epidural at anytime after that, no need to wait, but I wanted to see how things progressed before jumping into the epidural. I had told james that I was 80% sure I'd have the epidural but I wanted to see how bad contractions really were before relying on the meds.

10am - called in the epidural. Who was I kidding...contractions suck...a lot. Having my water broken really changed things. While I'm glad I got to experience contractions and the breathing (which works if you need it), I LOVE the epidural. by 11:00am I was completely numb from the waist down and it was awesome...not an ounce of pain from that point on.

10am - 8pm - stuck at 2.5 cm. We spent the whole day watching tv, reading magazines, chatting with nurses, etc. James sculpted 'Gwendi' a little ghandi looking guy that the nurses were very impressed with. I took 10-15 min naps just about every hour because while I didn't feel any contractions, they were definitely coming fast and strong (at least that's what the monitors indicated) so my body was working. We were told that it can take quite awhile to get to 5cm but after that it's fairly common to go about 1cm/hour. So after 14 hours of labor we were starting to think that Gwen may be holding out till the next day.

8pm - we were checked again and hooray! We were at 4cm. At least it was progress. At this point my epidural bag ran out so we had to bring in a new one. So glad I got a drip instead of just a shot as I would have been out of juice at the wrong time!

9:30pm - the nurses came in to check me again because the contractions were becoming stronger and more rhythmic. I was at 8cm! We were told she would be coming in the next 30min to an hour. After spending 15 hours hanging out in the hospital it was a strange feeling to know that she was really on her way...we were also right in the middle of the House season premier so we were going to miss the end ;)

10:15pm - our dr. and the nurses started filing into the room. Dr Gopal was on duty and she was amazing...very laid back and conversational. We were chatting about other deliveries she had performed that day, the nurses kids, etc. and in mid sentence I would comment that I could feel that there was some movement. Very casually the nurses got every one into position and just like we were chatting, Dr. Gopal asked me to start pushing...no pain, no stress...I even made a comment after the first few pushes that I could definitely do this again. Gwen's head was showing after the first set of pushes and she was out in just five. We were all dumbfounded with all the dark hair. Surprisingly it was a pretty pleasant experience (well, except for the moment that the dr. brought out the mirror...whoa...).

10:55pm - Gwen was delivered with a FULL head of black hair and very dark eyes...where did that come from?!?! She gave out a few good cries but was calm as a cucumber when they placed her on my chest. While we all joked that she looked a little asian she sure was cute. She weighed in at 6lbs 14oz and was 21inches long...very long and skinny.

Summary - Gwen took her time getting ready to enter this world but when the time came, she made quick work of it! If all labor and delivery experiences were like mine there would be a LOT more kids in this world! The nurses and Dr. Gopal were absolutely wonderful and I have very fond memories of the whole experience.

Photos from Gwen's first month

Rockin it Bjorn style...

Deven had her playing xbox360 early. She was a natural.

Mom and Gwen playing on her activity mat. She LOVES her black and white crinkly ball.

Dad and Gwen relaxing.

Hoppa and Gwen's first meeting.

Whaddup Yo!

Having fun on the floor.

Zonked out on dad.

5-day old feet.

When she's not smiling she has a look of concentration...and those long fingers are always working.

So little!

Back online!

Well, it's been about 6 weeks since our last post and life has certainly changed! Gwen joined us on September 21st (see next post for the details) and she is amazing. Since her first day in this world she has been a very happy baby and so much fun to be around.

James was able to take 2 weeks of paternity leave from work which was really nice as we were really able to bond with Gwen and help each other out. When she was born she had mild jaundice which made her a little lethargic so we had to wake her every three hours to feed. Apparently the schedule worked in our favor as she was up to 7lbs 7oz within a week of coming home (she had gone down to 6lbs 6oz). She was eating well but mom had to meet with the lactation consultant to figure out a way to shorten the 2 hour feedings that were occurring (one went 4 hours).

We were lucky to have Deven in town the weekend after her birth so she was able to meet him as soon as she got home. Deven was great with her...he was so excited to hold her and be of help to James and me. It was cute...he's been around lots of babies but never a newborn so he had questions like 'when is her bedtime?' man, do I wish she had a bedtime! He was excited to be able to feed her a bottle but we didn't give her a bottle until about 4 weeks...we'll set him up with his first feeding on his next visit.

Gramma and hoppa came out to visit two weeks after Gwen was born and mom stayed in town for another two weeks while James returned to work which was a huge help...particularly because I got sick and had to stay away from Gwen except for feedings and had to wear a face mask when I was with her. It only lasted a few days fortunately. In the 2.5 weeks mom was here Gwen grew like a weed and discovered her smile. About 5 weeks after her birth she met Grandma and Poppop as well.

On Monday Gwen will be 6 weeks old and she's knocking out those development milestones like a champ. She is full of smiles and 'happy sounds' (particularly when she's laying on her changing table), she can focus on and track objects, she turns her head to sounds and she recognizes James and me by our voices and by sight. We've had several nights with 5-6 hours between feedings which is GREAT for mom. She was up to 8lbs 8oz (31st percentile) and is 22.5 inches (93rd percentile) as of her 1 month dr appointment which means she's like a little string bean. She's into her 3-6 months clothes already but they are really baggy on her. It's amazing how quickly she's growing and changing...she does something new every day!

Enjoy the photos!

40 weeks, 5 days

Same ole, Same ole....I went in to see the dr. yesterday and she reported that I'm STILL 50% effaced and 0cm dialated. She did her best to disrupt the environment but with no results yet....the kid is comfortable. So the plan is to go into the hosp on Sunday night at 6pm for meds to soften and dialate my cervix. If that works then hopefully I'll go into labor on my own but if not I have a 6am induction scheduled for Monday morning. If the meds don't work then that induction apt will become a second try at softening my cervix. Worst case scenario, we'll move on to c-section. So regardless of what happens, the baby is coming next week! And when she does we'll have a conversation about the difference between fashionably late and just plain late.

40 weeks, 3 days

Still no sign of baby Rouse. Fortunately I still feel good and I'm getting a full nights sleep so I'm not miserable but the waiting is enough to drive me crazy and I'm now constantly irritable (beware to those who ask me how I'm feeling these days...it's the #1 question these days and I'm getting less and less creative with the response as the days go by). All those weeks before my due date were one big 'hurry up and wait' situation...had I known then what I know now I would have held off on a few projects so I could keep myself busy! On the up side, there is always more work to be done so I've been working from home since labor day. Being able to work from my recliner has been great...my feet don't look like flinstone feet anymore and I've been able to plow through the work which makes me feel better about taking a full three months off once the baby comes.

I'm eagerly accepting labor vibes so please send them my way. In the meantime, I took some more photos of the baby's room with the artwork on the wall. It is one SMALL room but fortunately it's for a small person. Note the foil on the chair and in the crib...this was to try and keep the cats off of the baby's furniture...great idea but we've found that one of our cats is actually fond of foil....she's so odd.

40 weeks

I was officially at 40 weeks yesterday and no sign of any impending labor. She'll be fashionable late apparently! On the up side, James and I are enjoying a nice, quiet relaxing weekend with plenty of sleep, a few movies, long walks and really doing whatever we want, whenever we want. Here is the photo of me at 40 weeks...enjoy!

Back from hibernation

It's been awhile since our last post and unfortunately not much has happened. While we've finished off all the last minute stuff with the baby (baby's room is DONE, bags are packed for the hospital, etc.), the baby is snug as a bug in my belly with no signs of her showing her face any time soon (and my due date is tomorrow). I saw the dr. this morning and she reported that I'm still at 50% effaced but not dialated at all which is the same as last week. We scheduled an induction for September 21st at 6:30am if she doesn't come at some point next week. On the up side, I'll get one more weekend of good sleep!

We'll keep you all posted as the days tick by!

We had a GREAT weekend with Deven. The three of us went out on our last 'date night' to a brazilian steakhouse on Friday night. It was delicious but all of us had weird, too much meat, dreams and woke up feeling like we dined on a salt lick. We spent the rest of the weekend working on small projects for the baby's room. Deven and James want to make their own mobile for the baby's crib that would use flying superhero's instead of teddy bears. So, this little girl will be entertained by a flying hulk, iron man and spiderman Mighty Mugg .

James and I had a breastfeeding class on Saturday. I was skeptical going into it but it was actually a really helpful class...for both of us! And here I thought it was just something that 'happened'.

Here is our date night photo:

The baby's room

Here are a few photos of our 'cozy' baby's room...we still need to hang artwork and a valance but that's really for me more than the baby. Thanks to mom & dad for making this happen in one short weekend!!

Oh Sweet Air Conditioning!

After $370 for a very brief 30 min visit (hardly seems worth the price) we are back in the cool air business (VERY worth the price). Thank god!

I had my 36 week dr. appt this afternoon where they did my Group B strep test and all the other basics. The baby is measuring absolutely average and she is already head down which is good news! She was doing a little dance while the dr. was feeling around for her position which made it pretty easy to feel where she was. Her butt is right up under my left ribs which means I get a little heal lodged in my right ribs from time to time. She's good about moving when I need her to though (I'm crossing my fingers that she'll be this accomodating when she arrives).

The house drama continues

Those of you that see us regularly know that there is a black cloud that permanently hangs over our house. We bought the house during a housing boom and had to make some concessions, like foregoing an inspection, in order to have our offer accepted (after going through about 12 offers). Lesson learned: NEVER forego an inspection. Since moving in we have replaced literally every single major appliance in the house, fixed electrical issues, and replaced the windows and the roof (the roof was particularly fun as one of the workmen fell through the roof, through our bedroom ceiling and onto our bed during the replacement).

Now it appears as though we're on round 2 of the replacements. Before mom and dad arrived last weekend we discovered a leaky tube from our refridgerator...how did we 'discover' this, you ask? Because the basement ceiling, right above the guest room bed that mom and dad were to sleep on, caved in. After having the drywall repaired, cleaning the carpets and laundering all the bedding and pillows, the basement is back in good shape (just in time for mom and dad to arrive and for James to set up his new office).

We're not finished though! Just last night I arrived home to a house that was a toasty 82 degrees inside. On the HOTTEST day of the year so far our AC has decided to stop working. This would be bad enough if I weren't 8 months pregnant. Fortunately we used our window AC unit from the last time our heat pump kicked it to cool our bedroom and slept in relative comfort. The repairman is coming tomorrow morning to check it out for a whopping $250 just to show up (labor and parts not included)...just what we wanted to spend our $$ on right now! Please send good house vibes our way!

The all-baby weekend - the shower

Our friend Kate threw us an AWESOME shower this past weekend. The woman is truly gifted at hosting events as the food was delicious (pulled pork and beef brisket sandwiches, particularly tasty potato salad and carrot cake cupcakes, of course) and the decorations were adorable. If she weren't so darned good at her real job I think there would be a future for her in event planning. Anyway, between that shower and the wonderful surprise shower at work (ACRP), we are officially 'macked out' when it comes to baby stuff. I had no idea how much stuff was needed for one little 7-8lb person! This little girl will be much better dressed then her mom. Thanks go to everyone who sent notes and gifts...it was incredibly generous and very much appreciated!!

The all-baby weekend - the baby's room

We held off on doing any work on the baby's room until this past weekend...when mom and dad were in town (lucky them!). Since James was using the upstairs 3rd bedroom as an office we thought it would be best to wait as long as possible before moving all of his stuff to the basement...which James is less than excited about. With mom and dad's help we can now say that we have a functional room for this new little nugget to sleep in! We moved, painted, installed, assembled and stocked till we were all sore and fairly grouchy but it's such a relief to have it all done finally. Here is a before picture...I'll upload the after pics soon.