Another Day Delay

Well, due to a misunderstanding earlier in the week (long story), Megan's arrival home has been delayed until tomorrow. It's fine--nothing has changed about her condition--but it is still frustrating. We want our little girl home! Thankfully, though, she's doing well--and that's the most important thing of all.

In the meantime, take a look at this picture. Can you see the relief on my face at having this little girl in my arms?

By the way, I've been singing some of my "Songs for Spike" to Megan while I've been feeding her. I could be wrong, but I think she recognizes some of them.

What A Week

Megan was readmitted to the hospital with jaundice on Wednesday. She's coming home tomorrow. It's been pretty stressful, not having her here and pumping breast milk and visiting her in the NICU. But, thankfully, we'll be getting her back here soon.

It's amazing how much we miss her around here after only having her home for two days. We're exhausted, but totally in love with her.

Welcome Megan!

Well, it looks like we set a date for Spike's arrival after all!

P.C. and I are overjoyed to announce the arrival of Megan Salkin Shaw to our family. Megan arrived on Thursday, August 2, three weeks early and by c-section, but luckily it wasn’t an emergency—she just ran out of room!

Megan was born at 9:00 a.m., weighed 6 lbs. 4 ounces and was 19 ½ inches long.

I'll write more later, but I wanted to send an update!

Babycenter.com Update: Week 37

We're getting closer! I go back to the doctor tomorrow...hopefully we'll set a date for Spike's birthday!

I'm having some back pain today. I don't know if it's the baby or just the weight on the front of my body taking its toll, but I'm uncomfortable!

On a wonderful note, I had a prenatal massage yesterday, preceded by a pregnancy milk bath. Heavenly.

And, I'm trying to refocus my fears about the c-section into positive visualizations about the whole thing. After all, thinking positively and visualizing a good outcome is one of the ways I got here in the first place, so why not revisit that idea? In any case, it's calmed me down a lot.

Here's this week's update from www.babycenter.com. I wonder if we'll have a baby Elvis? :-)

How your baby's growing: Congratulations — your baby is full term! This means that if your baby arrives now, his lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though your due date is still three weeks away.Your baby weighs a little over 6 pounds and measures between 19 and 20 inches, head to heel. Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if your baby's hair isn't the same color as yours. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Unemployment ... and a Fleeting Moment of Panic

My last day of work in the office was Friday. Now I'm working on little projects at home, checking email, and being "on call" in case anyone needs me. I'm hoping it will be a nice transition into not working for about 12 weeks after the baby arrives. It's kind of nice--to have less responsibility and not have to drive 50 miles a day. And things are just going to have to go on without me. Judging from my inbox over the weekend, it will take awhile before people will totally figure things out without me, but that's okay. In the meantime, I'm also trying to take care of some little things that won't be easy to do after the baby's born--getting the oil changed in the car, for example. So there is a lot to do before Spike arrives, but if Spike arrived tomorrow, we'd all be okay.

Meanwhile, I had a moment of panic this evening about the cesarean section and motherhood in general. I know, I know--it will all be okay. But if I didn't have a few fleeting moments of panic, it wouldn't be motherhood, right?

My Child Is Head-Butting Me! Plus, Babycenter.com Update: Week 36

We went to the doctor today to check on Spike. She is definitely breech. In order for her to turn, she'd have to flip backwards about 270 degrees--she's gone forward as far as she can. In fact, she is head-butting the placenta (and me!). I'm not a candidate for a version (the procedure to try and turn the baby) because of my previous uterine surgery (with my "artistically-shaped" uterus) and the fact that an inversion probably wouldn't work because of the position of the baby. So, it looks like we're on the c-section path. We've tentatively talked about sometime between August 15-20, unless I go into labor first. I'm going back next week, and we'll talk it through again then.

I go back to the perinatologist tomorrow for another checkup. I'm pretty sure it's just a procedural thing to take a closer look at the baby and make sure all is well. Tomorrow night is also the last "baby basics" class at the hospital. Then, we wait!

And here's something interesting about how much water you can retain while pregnant: Between my blood pressure check last Thursday and today, I lost six pounds! So that should tell you how swollen I was last week...

Here's this week's update from www.babycenter.com:

Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds and is a little under 19 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, that will form the contents of her first bowel movement. At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

Pink Tuna

When I was a little girl, my grandmother--who ate health food before it was en vogue to do so--made "pink tuna" for us to eat. It wasn't a big deal, really--it was just tuna salad with well-grated carrots in it, which made it turn a pinkish color. For years, Bubby sneaked carrots into our tuna salad. When we got older, she confessed her "secret recipe," but it didn't really matter, because we loved everything that Bubby cooked. But it made me laugh that she was like an "undercover cook," making sure we got our vitamins in.

Tonight, in Bubby's honor, I made pink tuna. And I'm sure I'll make it for Spike, too. That's one of those family folklore recipes that will live on!