The Arrival of the Paparazzi

Seriously, this child has already had more photos taken of him than Obama on inauguration day...

The stats:

Dexter Richard Norman entered the world on Friday Jan 30 at 7:53 PM. He weighed 8lbs 4oz and was a whopping 22 inches long (which explains why he's been head-butting my bladder and kicking my ribs at the same time for the past month).

Dex is doing great. He's pretty stinkin cute, and we can't decide who he looks like. Perhaps he's adopted...

Here's some pics. I'll write more about birth day later. And as it's taking centuries to load pics to Blogger, maybe I'll post some pics to Picasa and will link them here later.

Getting weighed
First picture with Mom
Seriously displeased with first sponge bath
Meeting Aunt Christy
Kinda cute, eh?

Progress

We're gettin there... Some time today Rocky shall make an appearance.

After a yummy dinner of La Cucina pizza (and dessert, of course!) last night we wandered in to the hospital a little after 6. By 7:30 I was having Cervadil inserted in to me, and then had to hang out in bed, hooked up to monitors, for 12 hours. John and I watched some TV and tried out the whole sleeping thing. I think we both slept a bit, but not tons. Sleeping with two monitors strapped to your belly is kind of a pain. It was entertaining, though, to watch my contractions on the monitor. Especially as I really didn't feel them at all (and I am not even drugged up yet!). I did finally start feeling a bit of cramping around 3AM. But am still not feeling anything bad.

So the Cervadil came out at 7:30 this morning, and I am now at 3cm dilated, 80% effaced. Progress! Now we're just hanging out waiting for breakfast, showering, etc. And some time after breakfast the Pitosin drip will begin.

It feels odd, this whole scheduled "let's have a baby" thing. John and I both seem to be remarkably calm, considering a child will pop out of me in the next 24 hours. Ask us again in about 2 hours - the calmness factor will have reduced considerably, I am sure.

And, yes! Internet connection at the hospital! So we'll send an email once Rocky arrives and we've settled a bit.

Here we go!!

Light at the end of the tunnel

This damn kid doesn't play fair. He doesn't like us, I think. Or maybe he likes ME way too much, and John just scares him. Can't say I blame the kid - John mostly just pokes him, or lays a hand on my belly and then flicks it with his other hand, to feel the resulting waves... :-)

Just got home from the doctor and the news from the pelvic exam is... nothing. NO CHANGE in anything, from a month ago. He's still sitting high. Still kicking my ribs (stop it!!).

But, because we are mildly freaked out by a similar story that happened with our good friends, which ended up ultimately in the placenta separating from the uterus and the loss of a perfectly healthy 40 week old baby... we're scheduled for an induction. Please, lord, it can't come soon enough!

So assuming Rocky doesn't grace us with his presence before then, we'll go to the hospital on Thursday night to get ready for induction, and get induced on Friday morning, January 30. Hope you're home next weekend, Christie Zukor! I have no idea how long labor will take with induction, but hopefully we'll have a healthy baby on Friday, as well. John is hoping that we'll be home in time on Sunday for the Super Bowl... Needless to say, we're not going to be going to any Super Bowl celebrations this year!

My mom, of course, thinks this is tremendously funny. She was late with my sister, and two weeks late with me (IN AUGUST, as she likes to remind me). Payback's a bitch, eh?

Not the news I was hoping for today - I was really hoping for better progress and not having to induce. But at least we have a date. I work better with a deadline.

Still Waiting...

La-la-laaaa. No Rocky. Still just waiting for the boy to make an appearance. Apparently I am FAR too hospitable a hostess and he doesn't want to leave. What do you do when you're done with a party, but the guests don't want to leave?

People at work are shocked every day they come in and I am still here. It snowed this morning - we were all hoping that perhaps the snow would make things move along. But so far, nothing. Snow in Maryland doesn't really count as snow, anyway. Half an inch predicted here, and I am sure there's schools who are ready to send all their kids home already. Oh, wait. There's no school today. THAT'S why there were no school closings on the news.

Here, Rocky, Rocky, Rocky. Come out and play!

Lost

A little more than four years ago John and I went to get ice cream at Bomboy's, then went for a walk on the boardwalk in Havre de Grace. We stopped for a second, then John hugged me, told me how much he loved me, and put a ring on my finger. Six months later he put another ring on my finger at our wedding. And there they both have remained, with very few exceptions. I take them off for volleyball, because it's damn near impossible to hit a volleyball with rings on your fingers. But they stay on when I ride, when I give the horse a bath... really for anything else they stay on my finger.

Until yesterday. When my fingers were so swollen that the rings on them could barely move. Fearing they may never be able to come off again (maybe not all bad, but if they HAD to come off and had to be cut off, I would be sad), I waited for the swelling to go down a bit and pulled them off my finger.

And I feel a little bit lost without them. I miss feeling my rings on my fingers, and seeing them catch the light every now and then (ok, that happens rarely. They are disgustingly dirty right now).

So - here's hoping that swollen fingers, justifying the removal of my rings, means that Rocky's appearance is imminent. Sorry, Jenn Wise - we missed out on the Jan 10 prediction that you submitted. And we missed out on Kerry's Jan 9 prediction, with a 14 pound baby (thanks, Kerry. You're a real sweetheart).

Because John asked me this morning if I had taken a picture of my belly recently:

Hello, ginormous belly...

And check it out! John is painting today!!

And he looks so pleased to be painting!

The Waiting Game

I am not the world's most patient person. I know some may be surprised. I am good at faking it... You know, if you manage to talk in a calm manner, people think you have endless patience! I am especially not good at WAITING for people. Midwife 30 minutes late for my appointment? Pisses me off. Waiting for three seconds while John uses the bathroom, before we go to the gym at 6AM? Irritating. Waiting for the dog to sniff out all the fresh scents on her way from the car to the house? I don't bother waiting. I just shut the door and figure if I open it later she'll be there, waiting to come in. Walking behind slow people in the mall? Annoys the CRAP out of me. How can people walk so slowly??

So this whole waiting for Rocky thing is DRIVING. ME. FREAKING. INSANE. I tried to explain it to John last night. For 37 weeks it was ok to wait. I wasn't impatient. The boy was SUPPOSED to be in my belly. Labor before 37 weeks would have freaked me out. But now? Now that he is allowed to come out? Now that 37 weeks has come and gone, and he could be born any day now? It's making me crazy. Now I am WAITING for him. And I hate waiting!

If I had more to do to keep me busy I'd be better. But I am apparently too efficient at work, and there's not a ton left to be done at home. So I've gotten really good at coming home and napping on the couch while watching some sporting event (oooh! Tonight I get to nap to Florida winning the National Championship!). I suppose, if I were more motivated, I'd start a new useful project. Like, oh, maybe finishing editing the pictures I took at Chris and G's wedding, way back in May...

Any day now, Rocky. Get your butt out here. Patience is wearing thin...

Random Thoughts

If this kid is already head down inside my belly, and has been that way for a while, does he come out with just an ENORMOUS head rush when we turn him right-side up? No wonder babies cry when they come out of the womb...

How much crap does one really NEED to take to the hospital? My bag is packed. Rocky's bag is packed. The camera bag is packed, save the laptop, which I am using til about the minute we go to the hospital. John's got a bag packed. We're going to have way too much crap...

You all are WAY too nice to us. I've been writing thank you notes for baby shower gifts all day, and I think I might be halfway done. Maybe.

Perhaps, some day, we need to pick a name for this child. And a middle name. Fortunately, we have a last name all picked out. :-)

Putting a car seat in a car without a LATCH system is a pain in the butt. For John, not for me. LATCH system, though? Kicks ass.

CoCo shall be seriously not amused on Monday when she goes to work with me and realizes that her back seat has been severely broken up by the presence of a car seat base.

Christie really freaked me out the other day when she said "Can you believe that by the end of THIS MONTH you'll have a baby in your house?" No, Christie. No, I can't believe it. Thanks for the reality check and the ensuing panic!

How much freaking football can be ON TV in one week? Five day weekend from work, and I have watched more football this weekend than I have all year. The Hokies amazingly pulled out an Orange Bowl victory.

OK, the above is a lie. I slept through most of the football games on TV this week...

Happy New Year!