Final Preparations and A New Due Date

Getting ready for Calvin Charles's arrival involved several classes at the hospital. The first class informed us of everything involved with delivery. Mary had always told me that she wanted to have a natural delivery. I never really thought about it until the class. Afterwards, I think I was freaking out about delivery more than Mary was. Needless to say, I am not sure I would want to have a natural deliver but more power to Mary if she wants to! The later classes involved learning infant CPR (which I already knew) and childcare classes. The childcare classes definitely helped me as I have not been around a baby since I was four years old. The CPR class was not as great, but at least I know I still got it.

I am this baby's hero

All the preparations have been worth it and I think Mary and I are as ready as we every will be for Baby Charlie to come. We have ran out of time for preparations anyway so things are as good as they are going to get. Today we had another of our many appointments to check up on Mary now that she has preeclampsia. One of the tests they run on Mary is a non-stress test. The test involves two sensors being attached to Mary's abdomen.

Mary also had a button she was supposed to press when she felt Calvin moving around

One measures Baby Charlie's heart beat while the other measures contractions or any other baby movement. A successful test will involve a raise in heart rate when movement is detected. Today was the second time we had the test. For the second time, Baby Charlie passed with flying colors.

Note the rise in heart rate - this is how you pass a non-stress test

The entire test only lasted about 15-20 minutes. I don't think Mary minded it too much.

Living the life of luxury

After the test, Mary had her blood pressure taken again. It was still too high. After she rested on her side, her blood pressure came down a little bit but not enough. The entire time, the doctor has told us that she wants to strike the balance between baby's health and mom's health. High blood pressure due to preeclampsia can eventually lead to more severe problems such as low platelet count and strokes. We waited patiently for the doctor to decide the best course of action.

Maybe not so patiently...

After the doctor gave Mary an exam, she was pleased to inform us that Mary had finally started dilating and was at 1 cm. Not as far as it needs to be, but a good start. Also her cervix had ripened to about 80% of the level necessary. At this point, Mary can now be induced. And that's just what the doctor wants to do.

"You're having a baby!"
Note the excitement in the doctor's eyes and the borderline terror in Mary's eyes.

Mary will go into the hospital on Thursday night and they will apply a gel that will increase cervix dilation. After that, she will hopefully get a good night's sleep before her contractions start heating up. She will probably spend most of Friday in labor and Baby Charlie is expected to be born sometime that night. So now we are at the endgame. Mary has to collect her urine for another 24 hours and had blood drawn just to make sure everything is going OK.

Mary's BFF for the next 24 hours

Baring any setbacks, Baby Chalie will be delivered at 38 weeks 6 days on February 3rd. I am projecting his birthweight to be 6lbs 12 oz. Anyone got want to venture their own guesses in the comments? We could get a betting pot going...

(Will be) Born Feb 3, 2012

There is No Such Thing as a Textbook Pregnancy

The New Year rolled around and we were getting excited! February 11th was getting closer and closer. Mary continued working to make some scrill (money) while she could. I was accused of spending too much time on the couch eating cheese. We decided that before the semester began, we should plan a fun day out for the two of us. We probably would not have another change to hang out as a twosome for quite a while. On MLK day we went geocaching at Kill Creek Park. Probably some good history behind that name. We also went to Dave and Buster's at the Legends in KCK. I got the second highest score at the free throw game. Pretty good day all around.

I found Justin Beiber!

Mary's baby bulge was growing rapidly, but she still looked perfect. No swelling and a great glow. We were ready to meet Baby Charlie, but time wasn't moving too slowly.

Mary at 36 Weeks

On Tuesday, Jan 17th, we had our now weekly check-up at the doctor's. Mary's blood pressure was pretty high (about 170 over 100), so they had her rest on her left side and rest. After 15 minutes, her blood pressure had dropped to normal levels. High blood pressure during pregnancy is a concern as it is one of the symptoms of preeclampsia (more info here). Basically, late in some women's pregnancies, they develop high blood pressure and can start having protein in their urine and reduced blood platelet count. There is no known cause and the only cure is to have a baby. It can develop into a more serious condition, known as eclampsia, but is rarely allowed to progress that long without inducing delivery.

We were told to go back to the doctor on Thursday, Jan 19th, for an ultrasound. At the ultrasound, a biophyscial test was performed. 8 different criteria were checked (such as ability to clench the hand into a fist and amount of remaining amniotic fluid) and Baby Charlie passed all of them within 10 minutes. They allow 30 minutes for the test. Already an overachiever. We also got another pic of the BC. Still looking cute, but now he is a lot bigger!

Baby Charlie at 36 Weeks

While Baby Charlie checked out OK, Mary's blood pressure was once again high and this time did not drop after resting for fifteen minutes. She was ordered to have her blood drawn and collect her urine for a 24 hour period. She was sent home with two jugs and a device to capture the urine. Mary was not too excited about this. She was also put on bed rest, which she was really not excited about.We would get the results from her tests the next Monday.

Mary does not like bed rest. I don't know why because it sounds pretty great to me. She was told to lay on her left side and I continued to catch her in other positions. She also would sneak off to do laundry or straighten something up. It was kinda exhausting just trying to keep her laying down. On Sunday, Jan 22nd, she had her baby shower in Lawrence. It sounds like everyone had fun and here you can find some pictures. I spent the time golfing, drinking beer, and watching football.

Today, we had our check-up at the doctor's. No protein was found in the urine and her blood work turned up fine. However, her blood pressure was still high. At this point, Mary is on bed rest until one of three things happens: 

1. Baby Charlie could decide to come on his own in the next two weeks.
2. Mary starts swelling, gets a constant headache, or if an ultrasound shows something of concern. If any of these things happens, they will induce her.
3. She could reach 39 weeks without incident, at which point they will induce her.

The doctor said it is a fine line between Mom's health and Baby's health. Baby Charlie is now at 37 weeks and is considered full term. The major concern is lung development. On the ultrasound, we saw his lungs moving as he practiced the breathing motion. There is a small chance that today his lungs would not be quite ready and he would spend a couple days in an oxygen tent. By 39 weeks, such a risk is effectively eliminated. So for now it is a waiting game. We will have weekly ultrasounds to make sure nothing is going wrong in Baby Charlie's world. The best situation would be if labor started soon without induction. However, Mary is still not dilated so I need to give Baby Charlie a pep talk and get him going!

A Baby Shower and A Construction Job

For Thanksgiving, Mary experienced flying on a plane pregnant. She did not experience any difficulties. The flight was only an hour, so nothing like going to Denmark. We were able to spend turkey day in Grand Junction with Mary's family. The visit was great and Mary was able to have a baby shower. I don't have any pics of the baby shower as I was busy shooting rifles and four-wheeling in a jeep.

Manly

The weather was warm and sunny while we were there, so we continued to avoid snow. We hit some trails and enjoyed the great mountains that only Colorado can offer. After six days, we were headed back to the flatlands of Kansas.

Mary at 29 weeks

Upon returning home, we were faced with the task of constructing Calvin Charles's crib. The job turned out to shorter than building the dresser, only taking two hours despite being bigger and heavier. Maybe we are becoming pros at building furniture. One of the great things about the crib is that it will convert into a toddler bed and then a twin bed with a nightstand. Hopefully he likes the crib we picked out, because he is stuck with it for at least 18 years. Also interesting is that apparently I wore the same shirt every day in November...

With the crib set up we could decorate and finalize Baby Charlie's room. We are happy with the results. Take a look for yourself. And if you couldn't tell, the theme for his room is DINOSAURS! The flower on his dresser is an African violet, which can live for decades. The dinosaur on his dresser is a piggy (dinny?) bank and we got the bear from the toy shop in downtown Grand Junction. The quote on the Baby Boy sign is from Psalms and says "Children are a gift from God". True that.

Acquiring Items

Apparently, baby's require a lot of items that Mary and I did not have prior to the pregnancy. With the aid of Amazon we put together a pretty good registry. Then we received something in the mail from Babys'R'Us that we could redeem for a $20 gift card if we made a registry there. So one weekend we trudged out to Kansas City and set up a registry for MORE baby things that we needed/wanted. They gave us a gun to scan items with it and my dad and I had too much fun with it.

Jackass

Stroller, crib, dresser, swing, lots of clothes, diapers, car seat, and the lists went on and on. Gracious gifts from family and friends have helped fill up a lot of the gaps in our baby inventory.

Stroller (Assembled) and Crib (Not Assembled)

In addition to the plethora of gadgets and clothes, space is required to keep it all. Our townhouse has two bedrooms and one of the bedrooms was being used as an office for us. It has now been converted into a bedroom for Baby Charlie. Conversion required me to disassemble a corner desk because it would not fit through the doorway. I brought it downstairs and reassembled it with Mary's aid. Now there was enough room for the crib and dresser. Both came in pieces, with lots of assembly required. First up was the dresser...


It took about two and half hours to finish his dresser. We finished it the weekend before Thanksgiving. We decided the crib could wait.

While I was Gone

So there are several excuses reasons why I didn't update this blog for so long.

1. Doctor visits have become routine. Walk in, hear a heartbeat, the doctor looks at a dial and tells us the due date is still good, schedule our next appointment. Not much to write about there
2. Mary is having the world's easiest and therefore most uneventful pregnancy.
3. School started and classes are keeping me busy.
4. I was out of town for 3 weeks in a row. I'm already an absentee father...
5. I wanted to save up a bunch of material and overload everyone all at once.

A lot has changed in the last couple of months. We have begun to buy and be given a variety of baby items. We are setting up the baby room. And Mary has continued to grow.

July 22

November 19

And of course the reason for Mary's "growth" is Baby Charlie. As of November 9th, he was 2 lbs and still right on tract to be born on February 11th. What's even crazier is that Mary has only gained 10 pounds since her pregnancy began! We had a 3D/4D (time is the forth dimension) ultrasound done and to Mary's relief, Baby Charlie is not ugly. Both my grandma's think that he looks like "a little chunk", but he is at the 48th percentile in size for his age.

A little chunk

 The BC (Baby Charlie) had a large variety of actions during the ultrasound including chewing on his hand, chewing on his foot, chewing on the umbilical cord, flippin us the bird (the way Mary does it with the pinkie), throwing a temper tantrum, and praying. Don't know how all that bodes for his childhood behavior, but it was an entertaining thirty minutes.

Seriously not happy

I missed one doctor's appointment as I was out of town from October 15th through November 4th. I went to Minneapolis for a conference and then to West Lafayette, Indiana to learn how to measure protein clumps. Seriously, it takes two weeks just to learn the basics.

Science!

Until next time, do as Baby Charlie does and pray for us!

Please don't let these guys be my parents, please don't let these guys be my parents

Introducing Calvin Charles

First off, I apologize for neglecting my blog for so long. But hey look! A baby picture!

Thumbs up!

On September 7th, we found out that we are having a baby boy. His name is Calvin Charles and for now, we are calling him Baby Charlie. Once he is old enough to no longer be called "Baby", then he becomes Calvin. Mary and I actually picked out this name before we were married, so we've kept it under wraps for a while. He is named after both of my grandparents. Calvin Charles means "bald free man", so there ya go kid. I am dooming you to receive my receding hairline, but at least you'll be free.

Mary was a little concerned about the forehead size. Here is where my genes play a role again, as I have a "five-head". Based on the size, our due date has been pushed backed to February 11th. I think he will probably be born on the Superbowl (Feb 5th) so he can see the Broncos win their third Superbowl (ya right...).

The First Doctor Visit

After the second test came back positive, we called to get an appointment with the OB/GYN. The doctor couldn't see us until July 11th, which meant we had to wait two weeks. Fourteen days is an almost impossible amount of time to make sure that some test isn't wrong and to confirm that a baby is actually on its way. That meant two weeks where we were 99% sure that Mary was pregnant, but for fear of that 1% and looking like idiots we couldn't tell anyone yet. We did tell our parents because Mary needed her insurance card and we would be around my parents. There was no way we could keep it in while talking to our moms and dads. And we also had to tell our friends coming out to visit us over the Forth. Mary could only order water so many times at 23rd St Brewery before they figured something was up. July 11th would be the start of a wonderful week.

The doctor's office is in the west side of Lawrence in a  new swanky medical center. When we first walked in we went to a receptionist desk and Mary had to fill out some paperwork. We were then sent around the corner and we were met with another receptionist desk and more paperwork. A short wait and we were in the examination room. The nurse looked over Mary and sent the doctor in. We met the doctor and she probed Mary for a little while. Then I got an early birthday present. Using a Doppler, the doctor let us hear the baby's heartbeat!