Happy Birth Day Abigail Grace

Abigail Grace made her big appearance via emergency c-section at 12:44 am on Tax Day, Tuesday April 15. I had started having contractions Sunday morning around 9 am and went to the hospital Sunday night around 6:30 pm. Even though Abby was only 8 pounds (even) she wasn't going to make it out the old fashion way, so after over 30 hours of labor we were the cause of the midnight calls to all of the surgical staff at the hospital. They were all good sports about it and all seemed to be wide awake.

Abby clocked in at 8 lbs. 0 oz. and is 22 inches long (no wonder they thought she would be big - the girl is all legs). She has tons of almost black hair and has been a very content baby so far. We are all doing well and adjusting to our new schedules. Enjoy the photos. (and yes... for the observant, this post is back-dated. It is currently 5 pm on April 16th and Steve and Abby are rocking so I can check my email and update Abby's fans).

Insomnia

Well... it is currently 5:27 am on Sunday, April 13th and I have been awake for about 2 hours. Got to love pregnancy related insomnia. Sparky and I are catching up on the news we missed over night (thanks to FoxNews) and uploading things onto Steve's iPod. I'm sure this is meant to prepare me for the many sleepless nights ahead, but I can't help but thinking this is silly, since extra sleep at this stage of the pregnancy would seem to be a good thing. Oh well... by the time I need to start getting ready for church the iPod should have at least 400 tracks from my old cd's ready to be added and I should be very well informed.

Happy Sunday :)

Operation Eviction

I have been having contractions off and on since Tuesday, so yesterday we decided to see if we could help Sparky move things along. We started off with a pep talk (the crazy yoga website said we needed to let her know that we were ready for her to arrive but that we knew it was her decision - yeah... right...). We then filled our day with lots of spicy food, walking, and other activities that we thought may be useful in the eviction process. And, by the end of the day, I was having regular contractions at 10 minutes apart. But then again, our child has been obstinate this entire pregnancy, so when we decided to get some rest just in case, the contractions went away. Back to the drawing board for today.

Unfortunately it is going to be cold and rainy today, so the walking part may be difficult. Yesterday's brief window of 74 and sunny was perfect. Knowing this child she is going to hold off until tax day - it just seems like a day when an attorney and dentist should have a child, doesn't it???

Wishing you good luck in your endeavors today and hoping that you will pray for a quick delivery (and soon) for this baby, before we all go crazy (or my belly splits in half).

Maize Week Update

Maize week has made the poor little hound so tired that we were able to "mess" with her at night. On Tuesday night, after a very long walk and a day of playing fetch, we tried out the gym socks on the ears trick, which we had never been able to do without getting a little nip before.

Today is the end of Maize week, so its back to her regular dog's life until Sparky is born. After that the poor hound is in for a a shock.

The Midweek Update

Apparently the doctor thought things were moving along well enough on their own, so no induction for us this week. I will be working very hard in the next few days to get this baby moving out. On the bright side it means I may not have to spend the entire labor and delivery process hooked up to an IV (I have a HUGE needle phobia), so it's not all bad. I've also been having lots of contractions if I am walking or moving around a lot, so hopefully that is a good sign.

Maize is still enjoying Maize week and we've made it to Steve's big dinner event, so after Steve sees his last patient this afternoon our schedules are clear for a baby. Any prayers for a quick delivery in the next few days would be greatly appreciated by all of us.

Best to you all today!

Week 38 - "Maize Week"

It's week 38 of being pregnant - hopefully we are very near the end of this journey. I've basically reached the stage where there is no possible way to be comfortable and where sleeping is nearly impossible. Last night I was up every hour on the hour to either use the bathroom or stretch the charlie horses out of my legs. It makes for a very long night.

We decided this week was going to be "Maize Week", where we do the things that Maize likes to do since the rest of her life she will have to be a normal dog instead of a spoiled rotten "human" dog. We've been doing lots of walks in the park and around the neighborhood and fetch and sleeping on the couch. Today it was in the low 70's (a great change in our Michigan weather), so Maize and I spent a couple hours outside - I read and she slept on her dog bed which we took outside for the afternoon.

We have all of the baby gear clean and ready to go - hopefully the doctor will decide that Sparky is done incubating and will evict her at the end of the week. We'd like to make it at least through Thursday so we can enjoy some end of dental school festivities before our addition makes us homebound for a few weeks.

Afghan - Check, Carseat - Check, Baby - Missing in Action

Home Alone Day 2 - The Afghan is Almost Done

Maize and I have just about wrapped up day two of being home alone. I didn't sleep well last night (mostly because a very odd basset hound is having her own pregnancy problems, including frequent use of the outdoor facilities and throwing up and restless sleeping). So... because Maize didn't let me get very comfortable last night and because I never sleep well alone anymore, I am basically wiped out. I spent most of today working on Sparky's afghan - I am so close to being done. All I have left to do is 1/4 of the edge, which I am making scalloped. Steve told me I am not allowed to finish it tonight, just in case finishing the afghan results in eviction of the baby.

Steve's conference went well today and he is relaxing and getting ready to fly home tomorrow. He had a few questions about his poster and research and was able to sit through some presentations. And, luckily Sparky and I gave him nothing major to worry about.

So tomorrow... Steve will be home around 3 or 4 pm. By then Maize and I should have the afghan done and ready to wash before the big day. So we've survived (basically) our home alone stints. Now we just have to figure out when and/or how to evict this big baby.

Being Home Alone - Day 1

Steve left for Dallas today at 1 pm, so I am home alone until Friday afternoon and hoping that it continues to be just Maize and I here at home until Steve is back. Today I spent the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Hodges, who just got back from Florida and are on their way to Israel and Jordan tomorrow. We had a good time visiting and watching the Tigers lose another baseball game.

So far so good... we will see how tonight and tomorrow go, but I am planning on keeping pretty quiet so that I don't do anything that may assist Sparky in making her appearance.