The current status of things

All continues to go well. We have been blessed with a baby who cries little and loves to be held. We have been working on giving him opportunities to spend time lying a variety of places on his own, both at night and during the day.

He is growing and eating lots. Despite the doctor's initial concern about weight gain (or loss), on Thursday he weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz., only 2 oz. shy of his birth weight. He has likely met or surpassed that today. He changes daily, as newborns do and loves to look around at things during his awake aware times.

We have 2 days alone, as the grandparents have headed home or off on short vacations in California. It has been very wonderful to have the help and support of our mothers during this transition phase and there are a couple of things that will likely be challenging until my incision heals, but we will get by.

Jeff goes back to work Sunday night/Monday morning, so I will have my nights alone and my daytime with him sleeping. I'm not too concerned about night time, as long as Benji continues to sleep relatively well. We really have only had 2 tough nights, the night after his bris and the night after we went to fighter practice. The hardest part about that has been that while I am still partially asleep, he is crying and not willing to eat. I find I'm just not awake enough to realize that maybe something else should be done to calm him. It is coming along and things will hopefully be not too bad.

The bris was lovely and our mohel was great. We had a small ceremony at home with close friends and family. Benji did amazingly well during the whole thing and there are great pictures to be uploaded in the near future.

So much to say

I have so much I want to post about and share and not enough time or energy to do it.

All is going well. We are so in love and amazement at the moment.

Some of the topics I hope to post on sometime in the future are:
labor and delivery
our wonderful nurses
Food issues in the hospital
Waiting for test results to go home
coming home
our first doctor's visit (the day after we came home)
lactation consultants (ahh how wonderful)
Stupid Bouncers
My amazing husband

I'm sure the list will grow before I am able to conquer it, but I wanted to get the list down so I have things to trigger my memory when I get around to it.

I'll end with some pictures for your enjoyment.

Quick update...more to come soon

We are all home now.

All 3 of us are exhausted. We head back to see the doctor tomorrow to check on Ben's jaundice, hopefully it will have resolved a bit. We are just happy to be at home and be able to sleep in our own beds.

For those who have not gotten all the information: Benjamin Maurice Jacobson was born at 8:37 p.m. on Sunday 16th of March weighing 7 lbs. and 7 oz. and measuring 21 inches in length.

More information to follow but for now, I'm off to feed Ben and rest some more.

headed to the hospital...again

hopefully this is it.

Beware the Ides of March

Well, contractions have continued, gotten stronger, to the point where we headed into the hospital about 3 a.m. We were put on the monitors and I was examined to find out we have made little to no progress since the doctor's office despite hours of what I felt were stronger contractions. I was monitored for an hour and then sent home, them saying there is nothing that can be done unless we want to induce.

We got home around 5 and I was able to get to sleep for a bit (not sure when). Contractions are still here, but maybe not as regular, I'm not sure, we've stopped timing them for now.

So, my current plan is to rest as much as possible and try to stay as comfortable as possible. Get out and take a few walks and continue to encourage this little one to come and play.

Late night post

Well, I have proceeded to have contractions continuing throughout the day. Once Jeff came home he started timing for me and they were 10 minutes apart. They now vary between 3 and 8 minutes, occasionally as short as 2 minutes. They are getting stronger and have continued with naps and whatnot waking me up with each one. Maybe things are progressing, we will see.

What else to say?

Still here, still pregnant. Feeling crappy today. Barely slept last night.

**Update 10 am**
Jeff's home from work. Feeling a bit better or at least dealing with it better.

40 week appointment

Went to my appointment. Got my vitals taken, all looks fine. Then got to do fetal monitoring. In the beginning Roo was quite quiet (if fact, he has been most of the day, until now), but the doctor was able to get a couple of nice areas of movement so he was happy and it didn't take too long. No contractions.

I then had my cervix checked and we have progressed maybe a little since the last time it was checked 2 weeks ago. We discussed what will happen as time goes on some more. The doc would be very surprised if Roo decides to show this weekend. So, we have an appointment set for Monday at 3:30 for more monitoring at which time we will also have an ultrasound to check fluid levels.

Sigh. Must learn to be patient and make some plans for this weekend.

Hanging in There.

So, I am actually not going completely out of my mind. I have acclimated to the fact that contractions, even regular ones for a long period of time do not mean Roo is arriving today. I've been finding things to do to keep myself busy. Jeff is back working on his show, so that has made for a happy change.

We see the doctor today for our 40 week check-up. News when we get home from that.

Still here

I'm awake at the bright and early hour of 5 a.m. today. I feel like I got some things accomplished yesterday including a 2 hour walk at the mall. Came home a bit worn, rested on the couch. Today I may head out to a park and meet up with some folks or go walk a different mall.

Due Date

Yes, due dates are an approximation. I've been told I need to keep updating daily by Jeff or he starts to get lots of "did she have the baby" phone calls. Had a few contractions last night, but they stopped after I went to bed. Today I think I may actually try to be somewhat productive and get out of the house again, maybe walk the mall.

still no baby

Uncomfortable, but no contractions :(

No baby yet

No baby, no regular contractions. Got a full night of sleep (ah, sleep). Today's plan is to get some stuff done, go see some people, maybe run some errands.

Maybe today?

Yesterday we were finally able to get the child restraint seats inspected to make sure they are installed properly. Upon finishing, we went to get a bite to eat and I had a contraction. Jeff joked that I had just been waiting for this one final thing to be done before I could have the baby. Once I got home, I had a few braxton hicks, was nauseous and needed to use the restroom often. I made dinner and we had a very nice relaxing dinner. Once dishes were cleaned, Jeff and I decided to watch a movie. Around 8:30 or 9 pm, contractions started pretty regularly at 10 to 12 minutes apart. Since then they have continued regularly, gotten closer and stronger. They are now coming about 5 minutes apart, but not so strong that I feel the need to rush to the hospital. So, maybe Roo will come out and play today...or at least sometime soon.

**Edit Noon**
Well, I managed to get about 4 hours of sleep and contractions stopped. I woke up and started moving again and they started up again, but further apart. It appears if I am to the point of sleep they stop, but once I wake again they start. I've since napped twice. HMMMM.

Doc appointment

Had my 39 week appointment this afternoon. It was quite routine. Weighed, blood pressure taken, urine test, belly measured, heart beat listened to via doppler. Everything looks good. The doctor thinks this weekend (maybe even tomorrow) would be a good day for Roo to be born and he hopes to see us before our next appointment which is scheduled for next Thursday. If I'm still pregnant then, we will start looking at monitoring to make sure the baby is still happy and fluid levels haven't dropped too much. Hopefully we won't go too much longer.

How to calm a Roo

Well, we had an interesting evening last night. Around 5 pm I noticed a distinct increase of leaking fluid, showered and changed thinking it might not be anything, but when 15 minutes later I seemed to still be leaking something I decided it was time to head into the hospital to be safe and make sure my water hadn't broke.

I wake Jeff up around 6 and told him I wanted to head to the hospital to get checked out in case my water has broke and we need to start labor. He gets dressed and off to the hospital we go. Both of us obviously a bit excited and nervous. I'm most nervous about the idea that if my water has broke then we are likely looking at induction and a higher chance of cesarean. Jeff is manages to miss nearly every street we usually take to get to the hospital and we end up on the freeway instead.

We arrive at the hospital, get checked in and are lead to a room within 15 minutes. I tell the nurse what I've done so far and that there is a distinct increase of leaking, however no gushing, so one nurse begins my history (with many wows regarding allergies and the fact my list won't fit in the slots on the computer) while the other gets me hooked up to the monitors and begins preparing for the exam. All this takes about 15 more minutes and 2 things are confirmed. 1) My water has not broke, nothing to worry about there, and 2) We have a very active baby. The nurses go away making comment that the baby needs to calm down a bit before we can be discharged. She then pokes her head in and lets us know there is a shift change and she will be leaving.

We see no one for close to an hour. Roo continues at a normal high level of activity and I now need to go to the bathroom. Both Jeff and I are more than ready to go home and don't quite understand why we are waiting around, Roo is always active and not likely to rest, especially when hooked up to an ultrasound. We call the nurses station, I am unhooked from the monitors so I can use the restroom and by the time I am done our nurse has come in to reattach the monitor and check on things. She states that 10 minutes of quiet rest are needed before she can let us go home and that in the past they have had to keep people overnight because of an overly active or inactive baby. We again discuss that this is completely normal for our little one and she encourages me to relax and do anything I can think of to try and get Roo to fall asleep for a bit. SIGH!!

While lying there, I get onto my side and get as comfortable as possible, not wanting to move and keep Roo awake. We try turning off the lights, but the button doesn't work. The nurse had suggested singing lullabies and seeing as we brought our I Pod, I decided to do the next best thing. My "normal" routine when going to bed and being restless is to turn off lights and turn on a specific CD I find relaxing. So, I decide to drape my belly with my sweatshirt (hoping to make things darker for Roo) and place one of the two earplugs for the I Pod on my belly, the other in my ear. I lie there, listening to my music and the changes in Roo's heartbeat, hoping to have 10 minutes of quiet time so we can go home.

Roo's heartbeat fluctuates quite a bit and movement comes and goes, but never doesn't go for more than 2 or 3 minutes at a time. At about 9 pm, Jeff, at this point restless and VERY hungry (he didn't eat before we came in, as I figured if my water had broke, he could go get food in the cafeteria once I was examined and if it hadn't we could go get food together) and decides to go and get something to eat. I tell him no problem and in walks the nurse saying "So, do you want to go home?" Apparently, after one of the longer quiet periods for Roo she had called the doctor and gotten the okay to send us home. She was able to count up 6 or 7 minutes of sporadic quietness and thus had the needed "baseline" to determine a resting heart rate without any outside influence on the monitor. She again reiterated that this is not a completely uncommon occurrence and trying to get a baby to calm down, as frustrating as it can be, is much better than having an overly quiet baby and not being able to let patients go home for that.

It was close to 9:30 by the time we finally got discharged and out of the hospital and we both needed food. We got to a restaurant 10 minutes before the kitchen closed and were able to get our order in and eat something and finally get home. The funniest part of the story is that during the entire time on the monitors (from about 6:30 to 9) I didn't have one contraction, however, as I am finishing my meal I have one, pretty good strength contraction. Jeff jokes about going back to the hospital and I am not so amused, as it is still hurting.

We get home and are able to relax for a bit before Jeff heads off to work. It's amazing how tiring it can be to lie in a bed and try to calm an overly active baby.

One week?

One week left until we hit the due date. I am ready to no longer be pregnant and to meet our little one. I was awoken this morning with contractions about 15 minutes apart, however they have gone away. Our next doctor's appointment is Thursday and our doctor is back in town as of yesterday. I have one of the sewing projects complete and one almost there along with one knitting project in process. I'm trying to remain relaxed and do things to help the encourage the little one to come out and join us, including talking to him often about coming out to play. So, the waiting game continues. I'll update again after my OB appointment on Thursday (assuming nothing happens between now and then)