William's Birth Story

Darrell and I loved the OB/GYN that we used throughout my pregnancy. He was very laid back, gave us straightforward answers to questions, and had an awesome sense of humor (at least it was to us--I do know people who might have been put off by some of his joking around, but not us). He was also never one to make predictions or promises to us about the pregnancy/labor (the exception to this being that once April 1st rolled around he promised us we'd have a baby sometime that month--with my due date being the 13th he wouldn't have let me go until May before inducing me). However, there were a few things he said that he ended up being way off on.

--At an appointment toward the end of March, he casually commented that we should be "in the clear" with not having to worry about inclement weather getting in the way of us making it to the hospital for delivery. The reality? This is what we drove in on our way to the hospital:

And although you can't see it in the picture, the sleet/freezing rain is still falling.

--A week or two before my due date, our doctor was asking how we were doing, and I made a comment about starting to get impatient. Darrell echoed my sentiments, saying that we were both ready for "the floodgates to open". Our doctor jumped at Darrell's choice of words, reminding him that 80% of labors begin without the water breaking and that we should not count on that as our indicator that labor has begun. The reality? My water broke, completely unexpectedly, after dinner one night. I'd felt perfectly fine all day, even did 50 minutes of pilates in the afternoon, and then out of the blue when I stood up to put away dinner--whoosh. Fluid everywhere. I think I laughed for the next fifteen minutes, especially because Darrell had just gotten done telling the baby that he needed to wait at least twenty-four hours for the storm to pass. Joke was on us!

--The day before my water broke, Darrell and I were at an appointment and after doing the cervical check, my doctor let us know that I hadn't thinned very much and still had a ways to go. He did throw out the caveat that things could progress quickly, but it seemed evident to us that he wasn't expecting anything to happen in the near future. The reality? I delivered William less than forty hours later.

The rest of the details about my labor and delivery are pretty unremarkable: once we made it to the hospital (earlier than we were originally planning to go in since contractions hadn't gotten too intense yet, but we didn't want to labor at home and risk the weather getting worse) I labored in the jacuzzi for a few hours before deciding that it was time to get the epidural (also not part of my original "plan", but I was having labor solely in my back which was incredibly painful, plus it was already close to midnight and I knew we had a long night ahead of us so I decided that with the epidural we'd at least be able to get some much needed R&R). Around 4:30 I started pushing, and at 7:05 William made his appearance!

While there are definitely things that I hope go differently the next time around (no tearing, less pushing, less back labor), one thing we definitely will not change is our decision to not find out the sex of the baby. Having Darrell tell me "It's a boy! It's really a boy!" while choking back tears was by far one of the best moments of my life. The next ninety minutes were pretty awesome as well; since everything had gone smoothly and everyone was healthy Darrell and I got to spend a good bit of time cuddling and bonding with William on my chest. It totally made all the pain and discomfort of the twelve hours of labor (and nine months of pregnancy) worth it.

I've got a few more William posts to get caught up on, but then I promise to get back into posting recipes and other non-baby related content. Hopefully. I'm going to try to make sure this blog doesn't become overrun by all things William, but I don't make any promises. He's just so cute I can't not talk about him!

Busy Weekend

Well, after weeks of unseasonably cold weather and April snow showers, we finally had some weather that felt like spring. Actually, to be honest, it felt more like early summer than spring, but the sun was shining and I got to wear my Chacos, so no complaints here. We made sure to make the most of the nice weather, and William got to watch some fun sporting events: two of Uncle Mike's baseball games and Dad's first soccer game of the season! Of course, I use the word "watch" loosely; this was how William spent his time during all of the games:

At least a sleeping baby is better than a crying baby, right?

Success!

Well, today is Darrell's second day back at work and my second day home alone with William. So far today I've:

--Eaten breakfast and lunch
--Showered
--Brushed my teeth
--Baked a batch of muffins
--Washed and put away a load of laundry
--Kept William alive and (mostly) happy

I like to think things are going pretty well so far! Now I just need to make it to our doctor's appointment on time and (maybe) do the dishes and today will be a major success!

On tap for tomorrow? Running some errands--just me and William. Wish me luck!

Prenatal Fitness: Prenatal Pilates

Pros:
--The DVD consists of 5 ten-minute workouts that can be done individually or in any combination to customize the length and type of workout you want
--The workouts cover a variety of muscle groups and there is even a flexibility section
--Many of the workouts incorporate the use of free weights
--Although the instructor moves quickly through the exercises, she is easy to follow and makes the ten minutes go by quickly

Cons:
--A few of the workouts have exercises that require lying flat on your back, which can be difficult (and in many cases, discouraged) for people in their third trimester
--There are no varying levels of difficulty

Fun fact about this DVD: a mere six hours before my water broke and labor began, I completed the full fifty minutes of workouts on this DVD. I'm not suggesting that this DVD did anything to help start labor (although I'm sure it didn't hurt); rather, I find that fact to be a statement to the level of difficulty of this DVD.  As someone who worked out regularly prior to pregnancy (and even did pilates on occasion), I was glad that I didn't start this DVD until halfway through my second trimester. I'm certain that if I had started it right away I would have found it easy and boring. However, people who don't have a strong background in working out, or who are new to pilates, would probably find the difficulty level perfect for early in their pregnancy, and with regular use of the video would even be able to use it throughout their pregnancy.

Honestly, even if you aren't pregnant, you should check out some of the other videos in this "10 Minute Solutions" series. The concept of these videos is great, and at a minimum of ten minutes it's easy to squeeze a workout in to even the busiest day. And even though the instructors don't provide modifications to make the exercises easier or more difficult, stringing multiple ten-minute segments together inherently makes the workout more challenging. Definitely a win in my book!

The Great Look-a-Like Debate

If Darrell and I had made of list of things we were not expecting to happen during labor and delivery, having a child with a full head of dark hair would have probably been pretty high up on the list. Both of us had blonde hair when we were young, as did our siblings (with the exception of my sister who was bald until she was two or three). So when William came out with a full head of dark hair, we were surprised to say the least. In fact, just about everyone who has met him has been equally surprised by his hair. Which has led to a lot of discussion about who we think William looks like--and to be honest, Darrell and I think he just looks like William. We don't particularly see any features that are definitely "me" or definitely "Darrell"; William just has his own little unique look. But that's just our opinion; what do you think?

Baby William

Baby Darrell--at least the mystery of the dark hair is solved!

Baby Jess

Your Book Might be Outdated if...

As I've mentioned before, Darrell and I have started putting together a pretty extensive library for baby William (let's be honest--Mom is probably more excited by the books than William ever will be). Most of the books we've picked up second-hand, because books don't exactly go bad (and a few crayon markings here and there just add character). However, it is apparently possible for a book to become just a little outdated. Here's a line (and corresponding illustration) from the version of "The Little Engine That Could" that we picked up:

"And there were cars full of toy engines, airplanes, tops, JACK-KNIVES, picture puzzles, books, and every kind of thing boys or girls could want."

Now, I'd consider that more of a pocket knife than a jack knife, but that's not the real issue here. I'm pretty sure that any children's book written these days that tried to pass off any type of knife (or gun or other weapon) as a desirable children's toy would be met with unending criticism--if it were even published at all. Clearly this was not the case in 1930, which is the original copyright date of this book (although our copy of the book isn't that old; the most recent copyright date is 1976). I imagine we'll have to explain that one to William a few years down the road when he wonders what a jack knife is and why, even if he did have one, it wouldn't exactly be viewed as a "toy".

Belly Pics: Weeks 39 and 40

39 Weeks

40 Weeks

Well, the storm system worked! William Edsell decided to make his appearance during what has been dubbed the Ice-pocalypse of 2013. Three and a half days of freezing rain, sleet, and snow, and thanks to William Darrell and I spent the majority of it safe and warm in the confines of the hospital (I'd say we were comfortable as well, but given the circumstances, that wasn't entirely true for me).

I'll try to get back to posting with some regularity this week, but for now Darrell and I are enjoying our time with our son and learning how to make life work as a family of three. And because I can't leave you with just that one half-picture of little William, here's a much better shot of our little cutie!