Irina Anne

Welcome to the world Irina Anne!

After having my induction canceled and rescheduling it for the next afternoon, Irina decided to come on her own and contractions started that night after dinner.  It was an all night labor, and she came out at 7:21am, on 7/21!  (Also, 21 1/2 inches long… she likes the number 21 I guess).  You all know by know how chubby she is, weighing in at 9 pounds 13 ounces.  Oh, also, the nurse was so kind to tell me “Usually we say 35cm for the head is large, your baby measures at 37 1/2cm”.  Yeah, thanks for letting me know… I could definitely feel the difference there.

She is (of course) lovely and absolutely adorable.  We are all in love.  Elijah and Elena couldn’t be happier, and want to see her all the time.  So much so, that Elena woke up in the middle of the night last night asking to snuggle with Mommy and Baby.  She has yet to try and say Irina, but Elijah loves the name and actually likes to call her Irina Anne.  He is so proud of her!

We are settling in back at home nicely, hopefully tonight everyone sleeps well and we wake feeling more back to normal.

Maybe at some point I will write out my “Birth Story”, because of course this birth was completely different than the other 2.  We are so thankful everything went well, and that Irina came out so very healthy and happy!  Thank you all for your prayers!

JUST KIDDING!

Most of you have heard through my Facebook updates that I was not, in fact, induced today.  As it turns out, BOTH hospitals were completely full!  I don’t know how often this happens, but the Dr. said it does (obviously) happen occasionally.  Some people speculate it has to do with “barometric pressure”, but no one really knows.

Anyhow, once we found out the hospitals were full, the Dr. had us come in for another check-up to make sure we could indeed afford to wait longer.  As we suspected, everything is fine (other than my fluid level being lower- but it is still in the acceptable ranges).  So we have opted to try again tomorrow!  The hospital is fairly sure by 4:30pm I should be able to come in and have a room.  Obviously, if I go into labor before then, they will take me.  BUT, I might have to labor in a bed out in the hall or something.  Not ideal.  Also, as we have learned today, the appointment for tomorrow afternoon is by no means set in stone.  While they expect that enough people will leave the hospital before then, it is also possible MORE ladies will go into labor before me and snatch up the rooms again.

So this message is for you baby:  You seem to be waiting for the perfect time to come on out and greet us.  I figure since your Daddy is (as of this morning) done with his summer class, and the hospitals will start clearing out tomorrow, that tomorrow is when you want to come.  But you have already taught me (especially with TODAY’S events), not to count on anything being predictable when it comes to your birth.  SO, feel free to take your jolly time.  Seeing as you are the child of 2 very stubborn people, I can appreciate the fact that even when we TRY to force you out, something comes up such that you avoid that happening too.

Guess Her Weight!

Here’s a little game for you to play while I am away at the hospital today.  (Just to keep you occupied, because I know you all will be on pins and needles…)  :)

Guess Baby #3’s Weight, and win a Starbucks Gift Card!

Here is a little background info to even the playing field for my Readers:

• Elijah was 7lbs 11oz, 6 days late
• Elena was 8lbs 15oz, 2 days late
• The Dr. says my fluid levels are fine currently
• Baby #3 is now 2 weeks late
• I don’t feel that overdue
• I don’t feel that huge

Use that information as you see fit! If the winning weight has more than one entry, I will draw names to pick the winner. Otherwise, closest weight wins the gift card!

NOTE: If you are a first time commenter (or if you are using a new name/email combo), your comment automatically needs to be approved. Rest assured, it went through- it will show up once I approve it.

Induction

Well Readers, it looks as though this baby isn’t making her appearance without a little kick in the pants.  Tomorrow (Tuesday, July 20th) at Noon they will start the induction.  So unless something happens between now and then, she seems to be waiting to be forced out.  :)

Prayers are much appreciated, induction makes me a little nervous.  I have heard the labor is harder…

I will post pictures of Baby #3 soon!  She is finally making her arrival!!

Baby Update

I went to the Dr.’s again today, to make sure baby and I are doing well.  They did a non-stress test and an ultrasound to check the fluid levels, and everything is fine and dandy!  Which means I don’t have to be induced yet.

And honestly, I have mixed feelings about that. Part of me wants so badly just to be induced and have her out! But, the other part of me knows that if it’s possible, it is better for things to start all on their own. So, we scheduled the induction for the last possible day they would let us- Tuesday. At that point she will be 2 weeks late, and that’s as far as my Dr. feels comfortable going.

Who knows though, maybe she will still come on her own sometime this weekend?

Weekend Poll- Baby

San Francisco Zoo

A couple months ago I won some tickets to the SF Zoo through their Twitter account.  Yes, laugh all you want that I tweet my thoughts to the world, but I have already won a couple of contests by using it.  And I never win ANYTHING.

Anyhow, back to the Zoo.  We have been telling Elijah for about a month now that we will go, but had to wait until Daddy was done with the school quarter.  Nick finished finals up last week, so yesterday we headed up to SF.  Elijah couldn’t have been more excited.  Elena knew we were going to see animals, but didn’t get the whole concept of the Zoo until we were there.  Once there, the both of them were unstoppable.  All focus was gone, Mom and Dad’s words were inaudible.  There were animals to be found!

Unbeknownst to me, Giraffes are Elena’s favorite animal.  I had no idea she even knew what they were.  But once we saw them, she said “hih-raff!” and didn’t want to move on.

The Gorillas were awesome, Hasani (the baby) was being quite the show off. Doing somersaults and all sorts of tricks for everyone.

(Side note: Ask Elena to say Gorilla. She gets a little stuck and it comes out “gor-ill-ill-ill-ill-a”. Super cute.)

Their Grizzly exhibit has to be one of their best. Or maybe it is just because the Grizzlies are so friendly. But every time I have gone, they will swim right up to the window to visit with you.

Elena WAS standing right up against the glass until the bear surprised her but popping up RIGHT THERE. Taking a step back made her all comfortable again.

This is me pouting because my children were refusing to take a picture with me. (Re: lack of focus)

This was the closest it came, and it only came after me grabbing them and begging them to stay with me.

Elena decided this was a better spot than her stroller:

(Side note: Notice the sagging pants? Yeah, I noticed that too. Once we got there. Now that she is in underwear her clothes don’t quite fit the same…oh well!)

My FAVORITE picture of the day. It perfectly speaks to the excitement the kids had.

My other favorite. Just look at that happiness!

They loved the petting zoo, that’s where ALL focus was completely lost. Such that Mommy and Daddy got very frustrated and that was the end of the Zoo trip.

But, the compromise was we would go look at the Giraffes just ONE MORE TIME before completely leaving:

Pregnancy

We went to the Zoo yesterday, and I didn’t realize how pregnant I look until I was sorting through the pictures.

This first one is deceptive. This is how I view myself. Pregnant, but not MASSIVE.

But then I got to this picture and realized I am in fact MASSIVE.

It is time for the baby to come. Seriously. How much bigger can I get?

Pregnancy Sleep vs. Newborn Sleep

Lately when I have been out and about on the town (meaning grocery shopping), everyone likes to talk about my pregnancy.  The most common thing by far that I hear is “rest up now while you can!” or “stock up on sleep before that baby comes!”

I don’t know about any other ladies out there, but this makes close to zero sense to me.  I have never been able to sleep well nearing the end of my pregnancies.  Never.  What with a mixture of sciatica, sleep apnea, rhinitis of pregnancy, and indigestion, I don’t sleep well.  I’m not complaining though, I do manage to get enough sleep.  But it’s not like sleep now is a breeze compared to what it will be when I have a newborn.

Give me a newborn to wake me up at night ANY DAY over sleep apnea.

Give me a newborn to wake me up at night ANY DAY over indigestion.

Basically, just give me this newborn soon to wake me up in the middle of the night!  Only 1 month left!  (Give or take a couple weeks.  Probably give a couple.)

Real Pregnancy Pictures

Here I am at Wilder Ranch- 25 weeks:

And here is Nick’s sympathy belly: