Austin Lee!

Oh my goodness, this blog post is way late but I am very proud to introduce my little stinker, Austin Lee Petersen! By now you have all received your birth announcements so I won't bore you with too many details. He is 11 weeks old now and changing every day! He is not only cooing regularly but talking back and forth with whoever will engage in conversation. He is fattening up too. He was born weighing only 5 lbs, 1 oz. and now weighs almost 10 lbs! He was in the third percentile for his age (that's right, 3%) and is now in the 10th percentile. He got his first shots last week and mommy handled it like a pro. He was in NICU for a week when he was born due to low blood sugar and had a surgery to repair 2 hernias in his groin, but he's a healthy boy now! Here are some pictures for those of you who live out of town. I will try and keep this updated more regularly. :) Love you all!

37.5 weeks...Full Term!

I am soooooo excited to be full term! He could safely come at any time, though I feel as though he's going to stay cozied up in my belly for a good week post-due-date. I just have that feeling... But still it is amazing to think how little time I have to wait to meet my little guy and it's making it hard to think about absolutely anything else at all.

Two weeks ago my doctor was out of town and I saw another doctor for my check-up. Baby measured 2 weeks behind (25th percentile) so he did an ultrasound to check on him. I wasn't too nervous, but it's never your favorite thing to hear that they need to check on things. The ultrasound looked great, though. He was moving around, which is always what they want to see. He was even practicing breathing, which was too sweet for words. I have a "perfect placenta" (I think I'm going to make a t-shirt for that one) and plenty of amniotic fluid. And they saw what they wanted to see, that his head wasn't abnormally larger than his abdomen, which would mean he wasn't getting enough nutrients. So, the way the doctors explain it, he's just a little guy! That doesn't affect my due date or reflect what his size will be as he grows up. My doctor says that from a selfish standpoint, I should be relieved because he will be less painful to pop out. :)

I am having intense Braxton Hicks contractions more frequently now, which they say isn't supposed to hurt. :/ They may be nothing like labor contractions, but they don't feel like a massage either! I just take it as a sign that things are progressing. I thought for sure I had dropped last week. I was feeling relief from the heartburn and feeling lighter in general. And I work with lots of nurses who confirmed that I looked like I had dropped. But over the last couple of days I have felt those old uncomfortable feelings again so I don't know.

I get a lot of questions about my birth plan. Through this process I am also learning a lot about the opinions of my friends and family that I didn't know before. My "birth plan" is to go with the flow and be easy on myself. This isn't about morals and idealistic expectations for me. This is real life, and I will be surrounded by professionals who will give me their best advice. I have a few things I know are important to me now, but am going to allow for change at the time because I know how unpredictable this whole process is.

As far as the rest of my family, Devin still can't be bothered to discuss anything baby related. And Chad deals with his anticipation in his own way. Let's just say that when I announced my pregnancy, Chad completely gutted and remodeled our basement. And last week-end as I became full term, he completely gutted and is-in-the-process-of rebuilding our yard/driveway/patio. A profound sociological study could surely be done at our house. It is always a source of amusement to me how differently males and females process life events, both mundane and major. Let me say this...I am not afraid of labor. I AM afraid of being so outnumbered by boys in my own house.

Here's hoping my little man comes soon. Today would be nice. :)

35 weeks! The countdown begins....

These last few weeks have flown by! I can't believe how quickly Monday's come, and that is just fine with me. Two weeks ago I had both my baby showers and both were super fun. My Blue Cross co-workers threw the first one, a Dr. Suess themed party, and Cynthia Steinberg threw me a big huge book-themed shower the following day. Pre-baby and especially pre-third trimester it was hard for me to understand why pregnant ladies a)hid out b)couldn't talk about anything but their pregnancy and c)were so boring. Now I get it. You hide out because doing much else aside from sitting on your couch at just the right angle with just the right pillow is just not as comfortable. You talk about your pregnancy so much because it is a completely unique state both physically and mentally, and it's hard to think about much else. And you are boring because of point A and point B combined. You can't do much and what's the point of talking about the weather when there is a fetus rolling around in your tummy? Anyway, the point of this is to say that the showers were a welcome celebration of this life that's growing, and it felt like a huge week-end long hug. While I feel more and more detached from my old life and from life outside my body these days, the showers were exactly what I needed. Friends, food, and games. I love games!

Baby is pretty much huge now. He is the size of a melon, over 5 lbs. and 18 inches long. His organs are developed and his main job now is just to get fat. He gets hiccups at least once a day and to say that he is a gymnast is an understatement. At my last appointment he measured one week behind, so he was at 32 weeks while I was at 33. But all that means, says my doctor, is that he is smaller and will be easier to push out. Yesssssssssssss! I was 7 something lbs., 21 inches and Chad was 7 something lbs., 22 inches, so we were both relatively small babies. Here's hoping Junior follows in our footsteps. He will be full term next week, but really he could come any time and be totally fine. (hint, hint) I have this feeling that he's going to come late, but let's pretend that I don't have that feeling.

His nursery is almost done and I love it so much I sit in it sometimes and just look around at all the stuff, wrapped and unwrapped with love, from all his friends and relatives who are so excited to meet him. Reason number 3530 why I can't think about much else these days. I am about to meet my SON! There is nothing more exciting than that!

32.5 weeks

Only 8 weeks left! It's going by fast, which is good because I'm getting super impatient!

Little man is growing fast and his kicks, punches, and flips feel pretty pronounced now. Sometimes they take my breath away, literally. He is the size of a jicama. Seriously? What is a jicama? He weighs about 3.75 pounds and is about a foot and a half long. How does he fit in my tummy? That's what I want to know. :) A stranger outside the hospital today said to me, "Is it triplets?" I said, "If it is, I'm giving you two!" He thought that was HILARIOUS! :) People say the craziest things.

I had just written my last blog entry when my week started to go seriously downhill, and since I've written more than my share of mundane details of pregnancy in this blog, I suppose I should record the events for historical purposes. So here goes...

On Thursday I was working at a cushy law firm and as work came to an end I was returning a chair to it's home in the corner of the room. It was a carpeted room, mind you. And a padded chair. But it caught on the carpet, and I had nowhere to go but on top of it. It was the weirdest fall ever, and even seemed to defy gravity. But over I went, tummy first, and with just enough pressure that I was a bit concerned. Thank goodness my little baby boy knows his mama worries and kicked for me right away to show me he wasn't completely traumatized. But I called the doctor anyway to see what they recommended, and of course they recommended that I come in and be observed for 4 hours. Chad came with me, and I was really really glad he did. This may sound crazy but I actually felt pretty giddy to have my hubby all to myself for 4 full hours. Even holed up in a tiny, clinical hospital room. They took my blood and hooked me up to a monitoring machine and everything was completely fine, so I was released. Friday, totally unrelated to the fall, I had some swelling in one particular spot and wanted to check in with my doctor a few days earlier than my scheduled appointment so I came in for an unscheduled check up. The swelling had been getting worse for a few weeks and was starting to hurt. Doctor told me it had something to do with a broken blood vessel, was nothing to worry about, but would probably get worse for the rest of pregnancy. Yay! On my way out I mentioned in passing that I also had a lump that had developed since pregnancy under my armpit. She took a look, didn't have an explanation, and said she wanted me to see a breast surgeon for a consult. I was NOT thrilled about this. I have a tendency to worry about things, and breast cancer while pregnant was not a small thing. But I put on a brave face and headed immediately next door to my dermatologist, who needed another sample of skin for a biopsy. The last biopsy from a mole I had removed a few weeks ago was inconclusive because it was too small, so she used a bigger needle, took another sample, and this time I got stitches. And the mole in the front, my signature mole, which had been removed at the same time, was not healing properly. So she used a bigger needle, and stitched me up. What a day! So I go to my best friends house to vent about my no good, very bad day. And on my way out of her driveway I backed right into a set of 4 mailboxes and put a good size dent in my car. !!! So that was not my best day. Since then the biopsy for my new skin sample came back normal, and my mammogram/sonogram/breast exam was normal as well. What a relief! I feel so fortunate that I am healthy after all that madness.

I very much want this blog to reflect the reality of my experience being pregnant so I am going to be honest. It's not easy! Some very weird stuff happens to your body. I have the lump under my arm, pretty significant painful swelling in a strange part of my body, a large dark spot that pretty much took over my left leg, and those are just the weird things. It's hard to experience things that relatively healthy people like me have never experienced, like trouble breathing, and so much heartburn! I have to constantly remind myself that I am pregnant and my insides are all sorts of compressed inside me, and this isn't a reflection of my overall health, but a symptom of the life I am creating. And then I feel better until a little throw up comes up into my mouth again and I'm back to the Tums and the cursing.

Still the good things remain. I love to feel him moving, and he has been getting hiccups at least once a day for the last couple of weeks. It makes him even more real to me. And it's actually getting to the point where it's close enough to get excited. And I have TWO baby showers this week-end! I can't wait. Not just because of the baby loot he will get, but because I feel so alone sometimes and feel guilty talking about pregnancy or baby with anyone who isn't pregnant. So, most people. :) Just because I always hated it when my pregnant friends only talked about being pregnant. Well now I know why. It kind of consumes you! So this is my week-end where I don't have to feel guilty for focusing on this amazing little person growing in me. I get to celebrate him with all my favorite people!

30 weeks!

For some reason this week really feels like a big milestone. The end is in sight! And I can't say I'm not freaking ready!

Last week-end Chad and I took an all-day childbirth class. I ate it up big time. It was one day I got to focus completely on baby AND the best part....I got Chad all to myself. With our crazy work schedules and other priorities it was a real treat to have his full attention all day. The class was reeeeally informative and fun. I didn't realize how good a massage would feel until the instructor made the dad's give us 800 of them throughout the class to "prepare us for labor", except I think she was giving us moms the silent secret wink, knowing this might be our only chance to get a free massage. It was fantastic. And Chad of course made me giggle all day, which I told him was one of his duties. I loved feeling understood by the other mom's, and finding out that they were going through all the same stuff. I also loved listening to the dad's fumble about, clueless. Ha! I was clueless once too, boys. This stuff is no joke!

Speaking of, I am outnumbered by boys in my house and I often feel like a big fat alien. I can't do many of the things I used to (duh) and I hate feeling helpless. And I hate getting brilliant ideas like going camping or having tickets to standing-only concerts and then realizing...duh...I can't do that! That would be miserable for everyone! I know how naive I was about pregnancy and I'm a girl. I can at least have some bit of empathy. But boys, they have the privilege of staying naive forever. I can often be heard saying unnecessary things like, "If you could only feel this cramp for one minute, you would pass out." But of course, they never will know what any of this feels like. If they did, babies would never happen.

People often ask me about my food cravings. For those who know me well, this is a laughable question because I have always, and will always, have a real passion for food and pregnancy doesn't change this a whole lot. And I guess I do crave stuff, but more than craving it's that certain foods taste extra extra wonderful now, like my taste buds have actually matured. The following are foods that I now adore: fruit (especially oranges), JUICE, fries, OREOS, cheeseburgers, and ice cream. I never liked fruit before, and ice cream was something I didn't really care about either. I am having a hard time staying away from the Oreos, man. I have to set a daily limit for myself.

Lat but certainly not less important than food cravings, we are finally working on the nursery!

We had to switch Devin's room to our old office before we could start building the nursery in Dev's old room. Lord help us, this Saturday was NOT fun for any of us. But as I type this, Chad is finishing the bed frames he built for Devin's bed and the guest/nanny bed in baby's room so that will be a huge load off! Pictures coming soon. :)

27.5 weeks

Yay, more pictures! This time Grandma Judy came with me so she could watch the little munchkin flip about for herself! It was lots of fun. To me he looks more filled out than in the last round of photos taken a month before. It makes sense because now his main job in life is to fatten up. :)

He is about 2 lbs. and about 14 inches long. And now instead of poking me here and there, I can feel great big sweeps of motion. It woke me up for the first time the other night!

As for me, I'm feeling less comfortable, that's for sure. Still having a very good pregnancy in relation to how it sometimes goes, but it's harder to sleep, sit, squat, kneel, etc. And I get out of breath easily and have to be careful. It often feels like my lungs have less room in my body, which I'm sure is exactly what's happening. But really I am still feeling pretty amazing for being 6 and a half months pregnant.

We are starting to get the room in order. I am so excited to decorate the nursery! No cheesy baby stuff for me, baby Petersen and I have more of an edgy taste. His first piece of art is a little bird D.J'ing. Ha!

I am going to the doctor every two weeks now, with only a little over 12 weeks left. I did my glucose test this week and will find out my results any day.

I've never been very patient, and this is the hardest thing to wait for! I can't stand watching and feeling him move all the time, and seeing his face in photos. I just want him to get here!!!

26 weeks

Oh my goodness, he's getting so big! I really did mean to write last week, especially to announce that he was the size of a rutabaga....(what the HECK? It's some kind of warped, furry vegetable!) but life has been a bit nuts. I am getting ready to shoot my second official wedding this coming Saturday and am traveling a whole bunch this week for work. So...here's the stats for this week!

He is about 14 inches long and weighs about 1.75 pounds! He is the length of a hothouse cucumber. Can you believe these veggies? My favorite development this week is that he is practicing "breathing" with amniotic fluid so his little lungs develop. Also he can probably hear our voices and recognize mine and Chad's. :) :) :) He is filling out, getting some good fat on him. (I bet his mom helps him out with that with her never-ending appetite!) And since we are all friends and I know you won't embarass him with this later, his little testes are dropping so he's becoming a full fledged little man this week! Sorry, baby boy. I just love talking about your developments because it's all I have until you are here!

I am still feeling great for the most part. It is indeed getting more and more uncomfortable to sit, bend over, squat, etc. He is still very active, especially after I eat. And it feels pretty surreal. But it's a reminder that he's in there and healthy and I love it!

And the best news is that I get another 3d ultrasound this week! Pictures soon to follow!

xoxo