Welcome to the World, Lily!

That's right: four days before my due date, I FINALLY got to meet the most beautiful person in the world:

Liliana Isabella was finally ready to met her mama and daddy on Monday night, 10/19/09, at 9:37 p.m. after seventeen hours of labor (fourteen of which I spent at home!). She was 7 lbs, 8 oz, and 19 inches long, and has a head fuzzed over with light blonde hair - she takes after her daddy on that. Everyone is happy and doing wonderfully, and we have never been more in love with any one thing in this entire universe.

I cannot think of a more joyous post to create on my due date than that!

...Birth story and of course more pictures to come when I can force myself away from her for more than five minutes!

Pics and Such

I am recording my fun house mirror belly for posterity here... [Click on the belly for full ginormous effect:]

It's hilarious to me how far OUT it can go, yet still doesn't extend past my hips on the sides. I should have take a front shot, too, so you can see the bizarre way it seems to just disappear when you look head-on.

Here are a few pictures of the nursery, too - the swing beside the crib is actually going downstairs once we have something other than a cat to put in it, haha. It actually turns into a bouncer and toddler seat, too. I love it! (click pics to enlarge)

And now for my 39-week update:

How far along? 39 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: 38 lbs. Sigh. (Part of that is actually residual swelling from slacking kidney function, which makes me feel a LITTLE better....)
Maternity clothes? Since I rarely leave the house these days, it's more typically wife beaters and yoga pants
Stretch marks? A few on my hips and such, but surprisingly not on this huge belly
Sleep: What is that?

Best moment this week: I know it's gross, but losing my mucous plug has been super exciting to me
Movement: Still constant - which I appreciate in terms of kick counts, but baffles me: I have no idea how she still has room to move in there! My stomach is so tight the skin is SHINY.
Food cravings: Nothing; pretty much everything makes me feel nauseous at this point
Gender: Two renal ultrasounds this week have still said she's "probably" a girl.... bah
Labor Signs: Sadly less than when I was on pre-term labor meds - but contrax are more intense when they do happen, and are the "real" (non-Braxton Hicks) kind; loss of mucous plug over the course of the week (even a little bloody at one point - but no more progress); nausea; lots of pressure; still only about 1cm dilated... lots of signs, but nothing that necessarily denotes immediate labor, unfortunately

Belly Button in or out? Still in, though super flat. And bruisy.
What I miss: Laying on my right side - kidney swelling on that side has banned that.

What I am looking forward to: Finally going into to real labr, and meeting this precious baby at last! I am dying here.
Weekly Wisdom: No matter how much I want this baby out, it is NOT up to me, and she is obviously staying in utero for a reason - patience is a virtue I am struggling to grasp at this point!

Milestones: All the labor signs, whether they "start" the real thing or not; it' so amazing to see your body do exactly what it should to prime for delivery!

Kidney update!!!

The swelling has improved!!!!! No stent - or surgery - for me!!!!!!!!

(...unless this child turns into an elephant baby before she is born and presses an ungodly amount of pressure on my kidney, that is. Good news is, the doctor doesn't seem to think that is likely.)

I just have to have a few more follow-up ultrasounds/appointments, a few easy-to-follow precautions, and the warning not to panic if I still have tenderness for a few weeks after delivery - apparently it takes awhile sometimes for the swelling to completely go down and the kidney function to return to normal.

*massive sigh of relief*

Oh boy

I am still here, and still pregnant - some days I think, "What am I whining about? I am only 38 weeks and some odd days... most first-time pregnancies go late!" ....Other days I am super exhausted, whiny, and frustrated with the constant contractions that have done NOTHING more than barely dilate me a centimeter. Sigh.

Ahhh, the emotional roller coaster that is pregnancy.

I had a scare Thursday - I started feeling weird back pain on my right side, and all I could think of was, "Ohhhhhh nooooooooo not you too, kidneys!!!"

So they did a urine culture and found a UTI. I can handle that! Got some meds and went to bed.

I woke up about an hour after falling asleep to the pain having escalated to an excruciating pitch - and wouldn't go away. I have to admit, I was hoping more than a little bit that it was actually early labor, but.... to no avail.

We went to L&D at about 2:30am, and after a million tests, they found I DIDN'T have a UTI, my blood work wasn't consistent with a kidney infection, and basically I had stumped the midwives/OBs. They kept suggesting a virus or pulled muscle, but it just didn't seem right to me. Thank goodness they agreed when I begged for an ultrasound of my kidneys (...I'd like to think they were already planning on it: they were just making me feel smart about suggesting it. :D).

Apparently I had/have acute hydronephrosis in my right kidney, and the left isn't looking so hot, either. In layman's terms, it basically means the pressure from my uterus is causing swelling and partial blockage of my kidney. Not fun, nor very comfortable!!!!! They terrified me by talking about putting stents in my kidneys (a surgical procedure to keep the ureters open) and then have to remove them after I deliver the baby. I don't know about you, but two extra surgeries, no matter how routine or minor the urologist made them sound, is not the way I want to spend my next few weeks with delivery looming at any time.

They are basically doing a watch-and-wait diagnosis at this time; I have to go for renal ultrasounds every few days (just had my second one an hour ago) and see the urologist at least today... hopefully he'll see improvement and won't recommend a stent. Oh, and I am back on near total bed rest, this time laying totally on my left side to relieve the pressure on my right kidney. It's making typing this very awkward, actually, hahaha!

Baby, want to come out any time soon?? You sure aren't making this process very easy on your momma!!!!!

Good things to come of this/in the last week:
- I get to see the baby every few days! She is apparently still a she, haha, and has the cutest face/lips/arms/probable girl parts any mom could hope for in their child. :)
- I have officially lost my mucous plug!!! If only that were a true indication of labor being close...
- The reinforced bed rest is forcing me to slow down again; I think I was just so happy to be allowed off the couch that I have been overdoing it somewhat. Hello again, daytime TV!
- Every day that passes is one day closer to TRULY seeing our precious baby; I was assured by the midwife that we won't go past 41 weeks, so I guess October will be our month!!!!
- Before the whole drama unfolded, we finished the nursery! I shall attempt to load pics soon!!!

Negative Nancy is Getting Desperate Here.

Sorry for the lack of posting... I am feeling a bit depressed and frustrated of late, and not particularly motivated to do a lot of Internet wandering.

So the source of my feeling down? I am still here, and so is our baby - sharing my body, that is. The majority of women are probably not expecting to have already given birth by 37 weeks, and I was one of them until five weeks ago - but I just don't get my body. I was having regular, heavy, intense contractions at 32 weeks. They were talking steroid shots for lung development and Brethine to stop contractions - which I did end up taking until last Friday - and nearly total bed rest. They basically told me that as soon as I stopped the meds, I could be in labor by the end of the weekend.

So I stopped the Brethine.

I went out to dinner.

I walked around a few stores.

I started doing laundry.

I even went into my school to check on my classroom, finally meet my sub, and "survey the damage" (-that, by the way, is something I will NOT be doing again - I was too horrified to see the state of my desk, my files, my computer area, etc., to ever want to subject myself to that again. Ignorance is definitely bliss in that case!.... By the way, other than my sub's apparent slovenly tactics, she does seem to be doing a great job teaching... and that's really the most important thing... right?!?!?!?...... oh dear.).

And the contractions started. Hard, intense, bending-over-the-counter-gasping-for-breath contractions.

But only about five to ten a day. Nothing even close to regular.

The cramping is much more intense - that was already pretty regular anyway (about 30 a day) - so now I have the odd feeling that my period will start at any moment. I literally caught myself thinking that the other day. It's a strange feeling, considering I have a full-term babe pushing on my pelvis at the same time.

To add insult to injury, the Braxton Hicks have increased to about four or five an hour, and tighten my entire ute now - making it feel like some boa constrictor has nearly regular appointments with my midsection to slowly suck the life out of me, stopping just short of actually dilating or effacing anything.

Well, I can't be TOTALLY sure of that last fact: my midwives are very adamant about not doing internal checks until 39 weeks unless there is a medical need for it, so for all I know I could be two centimeters.

But I don't even care! What good is it doing me if I'm just going to sit here in a state of pseduo-labor for the next three to four weeks? Why can't I be one of those women happily plodding along with only back pain and pressure to complain about for 40 weeks, then suddenly look down to a stream of amniotic fluid running down their leg out of the blue? No massive contractions several times a day, no cramping until contractions ACTUALLY start - by the way, that's the worst thing - hearing my friends say "Oh, my labor started EXACTLY the way you are describing it" - only to find out their labor typically starting hours to only one or two days before symptoms arose. NOT HELPING!!!!!

I am desperately trying to find perspective here. Every day she is still snuggled up in the womb is another day she is growing stronger and healthier with my help. She truly is safer there. This is all for her, anyway, right???

So why do I just want her OUT?!?!?!?!