Welcome, Michael Phillip Shaw!

P.C. and I are thrilled to announce the arrival of Michael Phillip Shaw!

Michael arrived at 12:38 a.m. on December 26 (narrowly missing Christmas). He was 8 lbs., 5 oz. and 19 inches long. We're in love. Megan is fascinated right now, although I'm sure that will change once she realizes she's not the center of attention anymore!

Happy New Year!

Love, Jill

Hmmm...

I'm now at 37 weeks, 1 day--three days beyond my delivery date with Megan. C-section is six days away, if Sprout doesn't arrive earlier. I'm shocked to still be pregnant because I was sure I'd go earlier than this, but other than that, all is well!

Update

Went to the perinatologist yesterday. The baby is 7 pounds, 11 ounces, which is in the 95th percentile for babies at this point. Wow! Everything looks fine. I asked the doctor if I could go until my c-section date of December 29, and she said, "Well, you could..." So we'll see! Nothing about this pregnancy is the same as it was with Megan--this huge baby even managed to turn inside my artistically-shaped uterus!

False Alarm

Last night, I went to bed with a headache, which didn't go away after two dosages of Tylenol. I was awake from about 11 p.m. until 4:30 a.m. The headache finally went away after a hot shower around 5:30 a.m. At my sister's suggestion, I went to the local CVS and used their blood pressure cuff--146/97. That's very high for me. So I called the doctor, and she told me to go to the hospital for monitoring. Headaches and high blood pressure can be very dangerous at this stage of pregnancy, and while the CVS cuff probably wasn't the most accurate cuff, it was better than nothing, and it was enough for concern. So, off to the hospital we went.

Bottom line: All is fine. Best pressure at the hospital was 128/80. I'm having normal Braxton Hicks contractions, which is the body's way of getting ready for the big event. All looked good, so we came back home. The good news is that I turn 36 weeks tomorrow. I went at 36 weeks and 5 days with Megan, so I'm feeling good that we've made it this far!

So, the mystery continues...

A Brush with Greatness

Last night, P.C. and I took Megan out to an early dinner. While we were there, one of P.C.'s greatest heroes, former UCLA Coach John Wooden, came into the restaurant with his son.

For those of you unfamiliar with college basketball. Coach John Wooden is the winningest coach in history. His accomplishments, likely to stand forever in the history books, include:

**Ten NCAA men's basketball championships.

**Seven NCAA championships in seven consecutive years (1967-1973).

**Most appearances in the Final Four (16), most consecutive appearances (9), and most victories (21).

In short, Coach Wooden is the greatest college basketball coach of all time. Maybe the greatest coach of all time. And in Los Angeles, he is worshipped. At age 98, he still attends UCLA basketball games and is flocked by fans. For you Baltimoreans, this is like seeing Cal Ripken Jr., Brooks Robinson, Eddie Murray, Earl Weaver, and Johnny Unitas having dinner together at the same table. But even they can't boast Coach Wooden's record.

On our way out of the restaurant, P.C. stopped by Coach Wooden's table to say hello. They had met a few times before, and P.C. wanted to introduce his family to his hero. And Coach Wooden was very gracious and said hello to Megan.

Megan will never remember this event, and there wasn't a camera in sight, but this memory will be in Daddy's heart forever. It was even more special because we were having dinner at Fromin's, which for years was a regular breakfast place for P.C.'s late father, Phil. Phil was a die-hard UCLA Bruin and would have loved to have known that his granddaughter and his idol had the chance to meet in a place he loved.

Cranky Monkeys

There's a little bit of crankiness going on in our house. Megan is just getting over a stomach virus of some kind, and while she's physically fine, she's not at the 100% level yet. Combine that with less-than-solid sleep, and you have one cranky monkey. I hate to say it, but thank goodness for Elmo's World. On a more positive note, her vocabulary is growing every day--latest words include "zipper" and "banana"== and she's walking around so much. It is such a joy to watch her gain new skills. It's amazing how one day she can't do something and the next day she can!

I'm a little cranky, too. The funny thing is, I looked back at the exact same point in my pregnancy with Megan--35 weeks-- and here's what I wrote:

This week I'm noticing that I have just enough energy to get through the workday and then I get home really tired and uncomfortable. Sort of like the first trimester, only I'm not nauseous and now my belly gets in the way. Last night I had a mini "I can't take this anymore but I'm terrified to have the baby" tantrum. Nice. I'll bet P.C. wishes he could run around the neighborhood screaming. He's been so great--I hope he's taking his frustrations out on the baseballs at work.

Today I had my "I'm terrified to have the baby" tantrum. When I was pregnant with Megan, it started because P.C. wanted to do a load of laundry and I started to cry because I was planning on doing MY laundry--some serious hormones at work, obviously. This time, it wasn't much better--I burst into tears because I couldn't find a pillowcase. Oy.

The good news is, I've only freaked out once during each pregnancy. So in my book, that's pretty good. And since we did, in fact, FIND the pillowcase, it seems like we might just figure this kid thing out after all...

Where You From, You Sexy Thing?

Me at 34 1/2 weeks, gestating away!