The Dad's Perspective

Amber asked me to write a post on what I thought of this whole process, so here is my (Jesse, Husband, Dad, etc..) perspective.  During the 9 months leading up to Friday the 24th I didn't really think too much about it.  Yeah, Amber was pregnant...cool.  Not too much changed, I mean except that Amber waddled and had a hard time getting out of bed to which I was very insensitive and laughed at her more then helping her.  My bad.  It was pretty funny though.

The day of the start of the contractions was a bit hectic and strange.  We went to the hospital at 2am with me trying to convince Amber she didn't need to go.  But she thought she did so we went.   It was a long night, I might have napped a little because nothing was happening except contractions and pain.  Of course it was the worst feeling I've ever had.  I felt useless.  She was in a lot of pain and there was nothing I could do, so I napped. Seemed like a good alternative. 

They sent us home at noon, I went home and napped.  Yay!  Hours pass....tick tock tick tock tick tock.  10pm, Amber rolls off the couch and says "I think my water just broke".  It did.  There was a mess. 

Back at the hospital we knew this time it was for real.  It was worse then the first time because there was more pain, more yelling, and more waiting...the worst part was the wait.  Well I may have napped again because I was tired and I was useless.  I know Amber was glad I was there but I didn't feel like I was doing any good. 

Now the interesting/good part -- the real pushing starts. I didn't sleep through this.  It was the most intense emotions I have ever felt in my entire life.  There were times that I was a little sick at my stomach, times when I was wishing I could take her pain instead, times that I just had to think "This is kind of gross".  So the first time I see baby's head starting to squeeze out I got really excited.  Lots.  I kind of choked up a bit.  When the baby came rocketing out I started to cry a little bit.  I of course wiped them away before anyone saw and regained my composure.  Blood was EVERYWHERE and I didn't care.  I couldn't stop looking at lily and thinking "wow, that whole thing came out of there?"  It was amazing, emotional, seemingly unnatural, but amazing!!

Cutting the cord was no problem.  After seeing all the blood and all the other emotions, cutting the cord was easy.  No problem.  Glad I got to do that!  Changing the first diaper, also no problem.  First diaper I have ever changed ever in my entire life and it was easy enough. 

So my perspective is that I'm glad women have to go through all of that because if a man had to do it there wouldn't ever be a baby born on purpose.  I hated seeing Amber in that much pain, that was one of the hardest parts for me.  Glad I didn't have to do it though.

39 weeks, 4 days

No baby yet, even though there were a couple of bets on today (sorry Em and Jen..unless she moves REALLY fast, it's not happening).  I tried really hard today though, and while I'm typing this, she's moving alllllllllllll over the place.  Probably compliments of Zeke deciding he wanted to say hi and whacking me in the belly with his giant paw (I was not amused).  Today, dog and I took our normal morning mile and a half walk, and I continued with the running (hah, ok, sad attempt at running) up the stairs and bouncing down.  Not only this, I decided (after a nap) that I had enough energy to be REALLY ridiculous, and did the first 3 steps of a Highland Fling.  The reason I did 3 instead of 4 was because I realized at the end of the 3rd step that I had set the music to a 6 step and there was NOO way I was doing 6 steps!  But honestly, I don't remember the last time I danced period.  It was fun though..still no baby.  Zeke wasn't so sure about the whole dancing thing..he kept trying to attack my feet (which you think would cause me to elevate more, but really, I could barely jump period).  This evening, I went to the Y to meet Betsy for a 10ish minute round on the ellipitcal machine before we jumped in the pool for water aerobics.  I'm going to sleep well tonight and wake up sore tomorrow, that is for sure!

I don't have another midwife appointment until Thursday, so we'll see what she has to say.  I'm ready for Lily to be here..for a multitude of reasons, but the top of the list today are (in no particular order): I want to be able to touch my toes again; I'd like to start jogging and doing some fun classes at the Y (like Zumba!); I want to stop eating so much!!!!!  (this one is driving me CRAZY recently..ugh, I just can't stop eating!); and obviously, I want to see Lily's face and hold her little hands. 

Hopefully not too much longer..!!  Think positive thoughts, people: 4 days at the MOST.

And now pictures :) after Zeke woke me up Saturday morning to let him out of his cage, he bolted upstairs and jumped in bed with Jesse.  I ignored them and had breakfast.  When I went upstairs an hour later, I find Zeke has taken over the bottom half of the bed, and Jesse is actually laying diagonally to make room.  Absolutely no room for me, so it's a REALLY good thing Zeke doesn't sleep with us and sleeps in his cage during the night!

And please pardon the evil/awkward grin I have in this picture (but please remember all the physical activity I did today), but Jesse took this for me tonight at almost 40 weeks.  ALMOST THERE!  I have noticed this week that I feel like my stride is off..I've managed to keep my balance with no problems, but I feel like I'm waddling this week and I'm walking much slower, even though it's not on purpose.  Still sleeping soundly through the nights (praise God!) but I will now admit that sitting has gotten uncomfortable.  There is just no good way to sit AND breathe at this point, so I must choose one or the other apparently.  I feel blessed that I am only now having discomfort though!

Hopefully I will have some exciting update soon!

38 weeks, 7 days

I've thought about writing a new post for a few days..but clearly have not done so.  At this point though, I'm pretty sure every time I post something on here, on Facebook, send a text message or call someone, people are expecting the exciting news that hey, I'm in labor or the baby is here.  Not the case, so just relax :) she'll get here when she's here, and not a minute sooner!

Nothing too exciting has been going on related to the pregnancy..Jesse and I DID find a new house to rent.  We've only been looking since..July or beginning of August.  And JUST now found one this week.  Of course.  The week before my due date..win.  We're pretty excited about it: it's a bit bigger, has a full finished basement and garage, plus a bigger yard for the dog, so we figured it'd work just fine.  We have access to it now, but told our landlord we probably won't be moving in until the beginning of October after Lily arrives.  But that gives us plenty of time to get over there, clean (because let's be honest, if I'm walking around barefoot in my house, I want to know that I personally cleaned the floors!), move our stuff and settle in before our lease is up where we are currently.

That's really about it..I've been rolling around on a yoga ball (which feels excellent) and bouncing down the stairs, trying to get Lily to get the hint, but clearly she will be as stubborn as her mama.  I'm sorry in advance, Jesse.  Zeke and I have been going on daily walks, and yesterday I walked twice AND did water aerobics.  Still nothing, but that's ok.  My midwife appointment yesterday went well..nothing exciting there either.  My cervix is "soft" but not dilated yet, but I hear soft is a good start, so I'll take it!

I'm pretty tired today..I got up at 645 this morning (not super early, but a lot earlier than normal!) and took Zeke for our walk at that time because I had to work 8-2 and the poor guy needed SOME sort exercise before sitting in his crate for awhile.  After I got home from work, he and I headed up to Morgantown for a vet appointment to check some things out.  He's doing fine, but the vet was kind of nervous about a few lumps/spots and things that have been around for a few months that I've been trying to keep an eye on.  Oh, and he has fleas..spectacular.  She gave me an oral pill for that for him as opposed to the topical ointment because she didn't think introducing a pesticide to the house a week before we had a baby was smart.  The whole point behind this paragraph was to say I'm tired today, sorry if my thoughts are all over the place, and today was my last day of work at the Y until further notice, and clearly that went well haha

Just a picture of my little boy I got from Jesse one day while I was at work..Zeke was quite passed out and comfortable.  And very much NOT allowed on the couch..

38 weeks, 3 days

According to my pregnancy tracker, I only have 12 days until my due date.  That's not very much time..especially when in reality, Lily will arrive whenever she feels like it, which could be today, tomorrow or in 3 weeks if she feels like baking a little longer.  Regardless of when she comes, I'm definitely ready (even if I am slightly freaking out about the thought of being a parent).  Also according to my tracker, Lily is of birth weight and ready to rock and roll.  Jesse asked me the other day how much I thought she'd weigh, and I guessed what I thought to be an average birth weight of 8.5 lbs.  He was kind and suggested that maybe she'd be closer to 7 lbs, which would be absolutely fine with me!

Zeke's continued to be a good little doggie, but I am kind of concerned with how we're going to do with him AND a new baby..Jesse kind of was nervous about that this morning.  Zeke does fine if we can take him for a walk or to the dog park in the morning to run off some of his energy, but where are we going to find the energy to get him there?  Oh, and the lovely fact that sometimes dog thinks it's fun to have a barking contest..with himself.  I'm praying that what I hear is true: all of the sounds the baby hears while still in the uterus are sounds he/she is used after birth.  Maybe Lily will find Zeke's barking soothing (hey, I can dream, right?). 

In other news..I have been feeling good for the most part.  Yesterday and today I have been feeling really tired.  Which I find strange since I still sleep like a rock through the night.  Or in Jesse's words, "She's out as soon as her head touches the pillow."  Very true..and I sleep absolutely fine except for the occasional bathroom run.  Whatever the reason might be, I did end up laying on the couch for the majority of yesterday afternoon (with a pile of laundry to fold) watching football.  Besides being tired, my back has started hurting.  Not sure if it's a combination of how I'm sleeping or the baby dropping.  Nothing too severe (I've been in much worse pain from my back before, this is just soreness), but it has made sitting on a yoga ball kind of nice (kindly provided by Betsy).  Everyone at work last week was telling me how low the baby looked and how they were sure she had dropped.

I guess that's about it..midwife appointment on Thursday.  At the last one, I commented that I was pretty ready to have a baby, and the midwife I was meeting with kind of thought for a second and said "well, you could start taking some long walks and taking Evening Primrose Oil.." to which I said "yup, already doing both of those, anything else?" hah Lily will come when she's good and ready, I know this, but why not try and help her out a little? :)

37 weeks, 1 day

Yup.  37 weeks.

 

A couple random thoughts that went through my head when I saw this picture: 

1- it really does look like I have a small soccer ball under my shirt

2- my tummy is a lot smaller than I anticipated it being at this point (and have gotten tons of remarks about how small I look for being so close to being due..I'm guessing it's my height?)

3- I am wearing a long-sleeved shirt, indicating it's not 95ºF+ today..actually it's not even supposed to hit 70ºF, and I am ecstatic.

4- a year ago today I was in AZ working on finishing up my college career..so glad that's done!

This last week had me doing some pretty good prep work for Lily's arrival.  

I made and froze several meals for the week or so after she decides to enter the world.  

I packed a diaper bag to take to the hospital with us.  

I started to pack a hospital bag for Jesse and me (Mom friends: what were a few things you were so glad you took with you/what were you missing?  I have no idea what to put in it!) and made a list of things to grab last minute (like toothbrushes).  

I made baby wipes!  Kind of weird and random, I realize that..but I mean, why should I buy wipes when I can make them at home with things I already have?  I was weirdly excited about this, but hey, they're a necessity, and who knows when Lily will ACTUALLY arrive, so why not make them to have on hand?  [ed. note for the curious: a roll of paper towels, water, baby oil and baby wash.  Homemade wipes that I know all of the ingredients and can change easily if I note an allergy]

I also officially decided on when I think Lily will arrive: 9/23.  I'd be fine with sooner than that, but I think that's my guess.  This was decided after a conversation with a friend who just had her baby at the end of August, during a full moon.  I looked when the next full moon would be: 9/23, thus, my decision.  I'm definitely not superstitious, but I've talked to several people who've noted the weird moon/baby timing, and my midwife actually said when she worked in the labor/delivery of a hospital, they always were a ton more busy with births when there was a full moon.

I'm still feeling fine..I was a bit more uncomfortable this last week, but I'm blaming it on the heat because I'm feeling great today.  And I've continued to sleep like a rock.  Zeke and I have been taking daily walks of 1.5-2 miles, which makes me excited for when I can start jogging again, especially with this cooler weather!  And a new session of aerobic classes are starting at the Y next week, and there are some I definitely want to take, so come on Lily, let's get this show on the road!  AND I want to be able to touch my toes again.  While I haven't had any balance issues, I have had to modify the way I pick things up off the floor.

That's it I guess..not a ton of excitement this post.  But I thought I'd share a picture and some random thoughts :) and since it's my blog, I can.  Next midwife appointment is Wednesday, so yay!