It's a Girl!

Emma Eileen Osman born early on Monday March 28th, 2011 at 6:20 PM.  She weighs 5 lbs., 8 oz. and is 18 inches long.  She is the tiniest little thing that we have ever seen, but she is adorable!  Because she was early, she's not feeding as quickly as full-term babies do.  So, we have to stay in the hospital for at least another night until they can see that she can latch properly for feeding.  


Dan and I are not happy about this, seeing as how I haven't gotten more than 10 minutes of sleep here.  Doctors, nurses, and housekeeping are constantly in and out of the room and they decided to pain the hallways starting at 6:45 this morning, which meant they had to use a drill to take all the signs off the wall and doors starting at 6:45.  When the pediatrician visits tomorrow morning, I'm going to beg to be sent home since we do get lactation consultants visits in the home with my insurance.


Saturday is our shower with friends and family, so now Emma can meet much of her family in person instead of still being in my belly.


Here are a few pictures to start with!

36 Weeks and a Big Scare!

This week we're at 36 weeks with hopefully 4 weeks to go.  It has certainly been an eventful weekend.  Friday was our last ultrasound to make sure Baby O is growing at the appropriate rate because of my weight issues.  We also had our last 2 week appointment, now we're on to weekly appointments until b-day.  

During our ultrasound, the baby was showing signs of Tachycardia, which essentially is a very high heart rate.  They were  nervous about this, so they hooked me up to the fetal monitor where things started going downhill.  I started to get really hot and the monitor showed that I was having contractions.  They decided to send me up to labor and delivery to monitor the baby and the contractions closer.  

Once we were up there, I spiked a fever and they were convinced I either had the flu or had a burst appendix.  I wasn't in any pain, so I was pretty sure that was not the case.  So, I had a wonderfully painful flu test, which consists of the biggest Q-tip I've ever seen being shoved up my nose, essentially into the back of my brain.  Regardless of the outcome, they put me on the flu medication for the next week.  

Then, my contractions started to get more intense and more frequent, so they decided to check me for the first time.  To our surprise, I was 3 cm. dilated and 75% effaced, which means that they were preparing us to have a baby that night if things kept progressing.  We were told be prepared for anything: a baby, bed rest, the weekend in the hospital.  At 11:45, 9 hours after we had shown up for a routine appointment, contractions had stopped, I hadn't dilated anymore, and the baby's heart rate was back to normal.  They actually decided to let us go home as long as we took it easy for the weekend and promised to call the doctor's office first thing Monday morning.  

Saturday I still had a fever, so we missed the wonderful shower that Dan's parents had planned for us.  I slept all day, which apparently was what I needed. Today I woke up feeling completely different; still exhausted and a bit of a head ache, but nothing like the past two days.  My doctor's office called this afternoon saying that I'm negative for H1N1, but that I still need to finish the antibiotics just in case.

As for Baby O, the measurements of the ultrasound show great growth since the last time, regardless of the fact that I am back to the exact weight I was in July before the pregnancy.  Right now Baby O weighs 5 lbs. 13 oz. (the size of a Crenshaw melon?), and they're estimating about 7-8 lbs. depending on when the arrival is.  Right now it's shedding the fine hair and waxy substance from it's body in preparation for arrival time.  On Thursday the baby will be considered full-term, but we're still not sure when the arrival will be.  We were told it could come at any time since I've already started dilating, but we're hoping to hold out for a few more weeks (no matter how much complaining I do about wanting it just to be over!).  

Below is a picture of the bedding that my friends Lisa and Emily got for us at my school shower.  It is so cute!  The other picture is Zazou exploring the gifts a we try to sort through them.  Hopefully there will be a few more posts before the announcement of Baby O's arrival.  We still have a lot of organizing to do!

35 Weeks and shower 1 of 3!

This week Baby O's brain is developing an incredible amount of neurons and synapses.  These connections are going to help the baby with the skills needed when they're born (sucking, swallowing, breathing).  The kidneys are fully developed this week and the liver is processing waste products.

The baby is supposed to gain 1/2 a lb. each week from now until birth, so that means my stomach will be getting even bigger.  Experts say that this month the activity peaks since the baby's living space is getting more cramped.  I have not noticed a decrease in any activity, in fact I've noticed an increase in number of times a day that I'm bombarded with an alien-like looking stomach, and the intensity has increased significantly.  

My weekly updates say that the baby should be 5 1/4 lbs. this week, the size of a honeydew melon, and that it is over 18 inches long.  I don't think Baby O is that heavy, but again, we have our last ultrasound this coming Friday, so we'll know more size information then.  This is also the last week that I will be 8 months pregnant, and then Thursday it's on to month 9!

My wonderful friends and colleagues at work threw me a baby shower Friday after school.  What a great surprise with incredible generosity!  Thank you to everyone at MES!  

34 Weeks and a Nursery!

This week marks 34 weeks, which means 6 weeks (hopefully) left to go.  Dan's paint job looks fabulous and the furniture looks great in the room as well.  We now just need to decorate and get the ottoman for the chair and we'll be all set.  The cats have already moved into the room, so the picture below has a towel on the top of the chair to protect from scratches and hair for now.  The crib is very interesting to the cats so we're letting them in there to explore as much as possible now in hopes that the novelty will wear off in 6 weeks.

Speaking of the cats, our little Zinnia is costing us a bit of money.  First it was her anxiety and kitty prozac.  Now it's her chin acne.  Her chin breaks out into little pussy scabs and they all fall out leaving her chin a bare bloody mess.  It's gross and now we have to rub kitty acne meds on her chin, probably forever.  It's either stress induced or over-active oil glands, but either way, we have a head-case of a cat that we're dealing with about to bring home a baby to.

This week Baby O is the size of a cantaloupe, which is about 4 3/4 lbs. and almost 18 inches long.  I don't think that he/she is really that heavy based on the last measurements, but you never know.  This week the skin is smoothing out, so less wrinkles than the last ultrasound picture.  The central nervous system is maturing, as are the lungs, and he/she is just packing on the weight.  I still continue to lose weight and have lost 2.5 lbs. since my appointment 2 weeks ago, making it only 1 lb. I've gained on the scale, but an overall loss with all the extras growing inside me.  Oh well, baby is healthy so that's all that matters.

I'm starting to really freak out about the labor and actually coming home with a baby.  I guess it's normal for me to be having this thoughts, but it really makes me think about how this little being is going to be completely dependent on me (and Dan) and how our lives are going to be completely different in such a short amount of time.  I know we can do it, but it's still the scariest thing I'm anticipating doing.  I see people do it every day, but somehow it's different when it's you.  Anyone have an suggestions on how to cool your jets in order to get some rest these last couple of weeks?

33 Weeks-49 Days Left!

Today marks 33 weeks of baby cooking.  I still have the same complaints (not sleeping at all, exhausted, not gaining weight, having a hard time eating etc.), but since nothing new has popped up, I'm not going to complain today.  I did see a dietician on Monday who offered some suggestions for the last 7 weeks of pregnancy, but it's not rocket science and she didn't tell me anything I don't already know: I need to eat, I need to gain weight, I need the 5 food groups, and try different things.  Thanks for the information.  She gave me homework; to write down everything I put in my body and email it to her in a week to see if I've gained any weight.  

So far I have a total weight gain of 3 lbs., which is less than what Baby O weighs right now.  Last week it weighed 3.5 lbs, so this week we're looking at 4 lbs. or so (think of a pineapple).  Baby's on track, which is all that matters I guess.  Yesterday my rings went flying off my finger, but luckily I was at home and found them quickly.  Maybe I should stop wearing them so I don't lose them?  Most women stop wearing their rings right about now because they're too small for their hands, but I seem to have the opposite problem.

This weekend Dan started to paint the nursery.  We chose a cream color called salt-water taffy, which is nice and neutral and will brighten the room up a bit.  I'm standing in front of the first coat of paint in the above pictures, but it still needs another coat (great job so far Dan!).  The furniture will be delivered next Friday after school, so I'm excited to see what the room will look like when it's kind of put together.