Ode to Alexander The Great

To my husband:

Thank you, a million times over, for everything you've been to me this past week.
But mostly, thank you for the socks, and letting me go on my tyraid about bottles and nipples even though I know nothing about bottles and nipples. :-p

I love you.

Fidgetty Jack!

Another Jack Video!

Sleepy Jack!

He's Here!!!!

Jackson Andrew Maidy

Born September 25, 2006
7:41 AM

8 pounds, 10 ounces
22 inches long.

Photos will be posted soon!

The Guy's Guide to Surviving Pregnancy, Childbirth and the First Year of Fatherhood

I just finished reading this short book about Michael Crider's experiences with his first child. It was more of a humorous memoir than a guidebook, but it did put a lot of my feelings and fears at rest. I now know that I am not the ONLY one worried about dropping him when he is an infant!

The author even has a chapter about their cat and the interaction of the pet with the baby. Funny stuff! I laughed at multiple points because I have experienced the same things with Taylor's pregnancy.

But, talking to friends, family, reading books, and even conversing with Taylor does not put my anticipation, fear, and excitement at rest. I wake up in the middle of the night worrying about what kind of dad I will be. I wonder if I will even be able to do this job. I worry about what I will do when I have to take care of something so small. SomeONE so helpless.

But, I can't wait to try!

I am looking forward to....

Two more days of work...well, actually, 1.5 days since I have a doctor's appointment Friday morning.
I am looking forward to sleeping in during the morning while Alex gets to go to work (tehehehehe!).

I am looking forward to not answering questions like, "how are you feeling?" or getting comments like, "wow! you're big! you look like you dropped!" or "any day now..." as if I'm not aware of the fact that I am going to give birth in the next week or so.

I am looking forward to being in a comfortable house where the AC does not break down like here in the office. I am looking forward to having access to water and ice not contaminated by little white floaty things which I cannot identify like here at the office. I am looking forward to not having to smell cheap purfume someone here at the office insists on drinking of bottle of every morning (this by the way, nearly killed me during the 1st trimester). I am looking forward to saving a little money in not having to fill up my gas tank once a week for work. I am looking forward to not sharing the road with yahoos who certainly should NOT have been given a driver's license. I am looking forward to not having to put on shoes. I am looking forward to my next doctor appointment (9/22) to see if I've made any progress since last week.

Will I miss the office? I'm sure I will at some point. Some mother's who have gone through this before even went as far as to claim that 6 weeks into my leave, I will WANT to come back to work. I don't believe this in the slightest. How could I WANT to leave our little Jack 6 weeks into my leave? That's just crazy talk.

The Calm Before the Storm.....

This was taken outside of the church where Taylor's cousin got married last week. Notice the smiles. Notice the belly pushed to the limits.

Any day now...

Week 38 and 4 days

No change in progress. Still 1cm dilated, 30% effaced. Sigh.
But then again, while everyone else has been predicting Jack would be early, I have felt he will be a week late.
He'll come in October and I'll be uncomfortable for another two weeks yet. Just have to keep my eyes focused on the finish line and the prize at the end of this race. So far, I'm not doing a very good job of focusing on this though....tehehehehe.

My blood had an elevated level of glucose. So Monday, I take a fasting glucose test. This means I eat nothing after midnight Sunday. Go in Monday morning to get my blood drawn, go home, eat breakfast, then come back 2 hours later and get my blood drawn again. I'll have my results in 24 hours. At this point, the doctor's are not too worried about the glucose since I'm so close to my due date as it is. They are just erroring on the side of caution, just in case.

I'm almost hoping they'll tell me they have to induce even though I've been against induction from the beginning. The last weeks of pregnancy are challenging.

Maybe I'll pass some time by repacking my hospital bag. I realised we packed for everyone's going home outfit except me! What the heck was I going to wear back home? The hospital gown? Also, I need to pack extra toiletries. May have to make a trip to target for some empty plastic containers, and the Korean store for an extra loufa (aka skin scraper).

Swelling

My body is on the war path.
It is only just past noon and both my ankles have swelled up like crazy!
This usually does not happen till much later in the afternoon, like around 3pm.

But I'm excited as I've heard other mother's tell me that shortly before the on set of labor, the ankles swell up...and stay that way all day long. I am hoping this is one of those true sayings.

I'll know for sure tomorrow during my doctor visit exactly what my body has been doing for the past week. I am praying for progress.

I know I have less than two weeks to go till due date, but it seems like forever! Also, 95% of babies do NOT arrive on their due date. I'm hoping Jack is early.

Close

It is getting close. 9/25 is getting close.

I have two more weeks of work left, and then I am done with the office till 1/2/07. There are quite a few people at my office who believe Jack will come earlier than later. We'll see what happens.

I am excited, nervous, anxious, nervous....did I mention nervous?

I complain a lot about how uncomfortable I am at this stage in the pregnancy. I have not slept through the night in months, my lower tummy hurts and stretches, I have to pee every 30 minutes, and walking or just plain getting around has been slow and at times painful. And if one more person asks me how I am feeling (mostly people at the office) or when my due date is (again, mostly poeple at the office who've asked me a million times before and never bothered to remember my answer) I am going to punch them in the head.

But deep down, in spite of my complaints, I'm glad to be where I am.

I cannot believe that 9 months is drawing to a close, and I will finally meet our son, Jack. I will finally be able to look into his face, touch his hands and feet, and see exactly how much hair he has on his little head. I can't wait to smell him, and cradle him and look into his eyes. I can't wait to hear him cry. I know I will lose it the first time I hear him cry.

My next doctor's appointment is 9/14. We'll see what kind of progress I've made by then.

How cool are these CDS?!?!?!?

Almost as if they knew I was having a child, the Music Gods shine down upon me with this catalog of kid albums. All are lullaby renditions of great bands! And, coming soon: The Cure, The Beach Boys, and Tool!

I have included a handy link to the amazon.com site for these CDs. Click the images to go check it out!

A Day at the Office

A day at the doctor's office that is...sigh....and I mean all day.

My appointment for today consistsed of three things: ultrasound, non-stress test, and my regular 37th week exam.

Ultrasound went very well. Got more profile shots of Jack's face. He is growing well. The ultrasound tech. told me that there is a 10% margin of error (high or low) as far as weight goes but these were the figures she would put Jack at this time. He is at the 75th percentile for his gestation, and is anywhere between 6 lbs. 14oz and 7 lbs. 2oz.

37th week exam: not much to report here. I am still 1cm dilated, and 30% effaced. NO changes from last week. However, dilation or how much a woman is dilated is not indicative to when she will go into labor or how easy/hard it will be. Still, I wanted to hear that I was still progressing along. Maybe next week's exam will prove to show more progress.

NST (non-stress test): Last week I had to sit there in room hooked up to the NST machine for 45 minutes (test should take 20 minutes). Today I was hooked up to it for a good 1.5 hours. Jack wasn't doing very much. His heart rate did not very (acceloration/deceloration) but stayed at a constant between 137 - 144. What they wanted to see was accelorations in the 150 - 160 range and for the accelorations to last about 15 seconds minimum.

I was fluctuations in his bpm, but not long enough, or the numbers high enough. The nurse even gave me some fruit juice to see if that would liven things up with Jack. It didn't work. I think this is because I hadn't had a real breakfast before coming to the doctor's office. Just some juice and a sliver of left overs from last night's dinner. I will not make this mistake again.

Finally, they asked me what I'd planned for the rest of the day and if there would be any way I could come back later in the afternoon to do the test again. Forturnately, I was able to skip work altogether. They told me to go home, eat lunch, run a few errandds and/or walk around a bit and come back in the afternoon to do the test again. So that is exactly what I did and I went back to the office.

This time, he was too active from lunch. He kept moving around, so the monitor had to be moved around. Or I'd have to move because my hips hurts, or my sciatic nerve was being pressed on, and then he would move position and the heart monitor would have to be adjusted again.

This went on for the next 2 hours. Finally, the doctor said the NST session was over and I could go home. They didn't see exactly what they wanted to see like last week, but they'd seen enough to assure that Jack was in no danger, and enough variation was seen to show he was being reactive.

My next appointment is 9/14 and 9/22. I am beginning to resent the NST tests.

Granny Annie!

My mother has decided to start her own blog chronicling her view as Grandmother to little Jack. She is still debating on whether or not to call herself Grannie Annie or Grammie Annie.

All I know is that at this point, she better make a decision! Today marks the beginning of Week 37, otherwise known as FULL TERM! Taylor's discomfort has grown by the day. She has her next appointment and ultrasound Wednesday. We shall see how much longer the little guy wants to stay inside!

PS: Here is Granny Annie's brand new blog!

Labor Day

As of 9/4/06 I will officially be 37 weeks pregnant. This is a milestone as 37 weeks is considered full term and Jack can come at any time thereafter. I think it's kind of funny that 9/4 is also Labor Day. Tehehehe!

37 weeks also represents the beginning of the end, the light at the end of the 9 month tunnel, the last leg of the journey...etc.

We are taking care of some last minute details for the big day this weekend. Other than that, we just plan on enjoying the long holiday weekend visiting family and friends....do as little as possible from now on as we'll never get a 'do nothing' weekend again for a long time after Jack is born.

Weekends will be filled entertaining/maintaining our dear boy and sleeping in will be a thing of the past.