7 weeks and 2 days- Heart Beat, Baby

We went to the Doctor today and, though we couldn't see you too well (perhaps because you're the size of a blueberry), but we did get to HEAR you!

That's right, we heard your heartbeat. 149 beats per minute, which is, as the doctor said, 'perfect.


You can even see a graphic representation of the heartbeat in the first image.
The second image shows...you! From crown to rump, you were measuring at 7 weeks, 2 days! Which puts you at an estimated due date of October 16, 2012.


You'll be joining your Mommy and Aunt Rebekka as an October baby. How cool!


It was chilling to hear your heartbeat for the first time. I had forgotten how cool that sound is.


A little from the books about you at week 7:

• He/She's generating about one hundred new brain cells each minute!


• Not only is his/her brain becoming more complex, but his/her heart is too.


• Also important: He/She's developing a permanent set of kidneys


• His/Her arm and leg joints are now forming.

No wonder your Mommy is so tired (and nauseous): look at all you and her are building together!

7,6,5,4,3,2,1 - Happy New Baby!

So, as it turns out, those Friday contractions were right on! I don't want to spoil this for you, but, you were born on February 27, 2010 at 5:51 pm in the evening! A full week ahead of your due date, but right on time-- because we just couldn't wait to meet you any longer.

It was a pretty interesting Friday evening and Saturday morning leading up to that big event though.

Your Mom and I were pretty convinced that the contractions would be slow and infrequent through the weekend, so we went ahead and had dinner and played games with your Godparents on Friday night.

All through dinner, your Mom had infrequent but pretty powerful contractions. But, when we asked her if we should go home, she said "No, they're not that bad." As it turns out, they WERE pretty serious, but your Mom really, really wanted to go to Pink Berry.

She enjoyed her fro-yo and then we retired back to Casa de Weinstein for some Boom Blox (that's a video game on this antique called a Nintendo Wii).

Around 9:00, your Mom decided that the contractions were getting close enough together to warrant doing some timing. At that point, I started a page in my journal keeping track of the contractions.

The rest of the evening and the next 20 hours or so went a bit like this:

Contractions at :

• 8:45
• 8:56
• 9:06
• 9:17
• 9:29
• 9:37
• 9:48
• 9:51
• 9:55
• 10:00
  

Etc, etc, etc...

As the contractions go closer and closer together, we started to realize that this was actually going to go down...and soon.

So your Mom managed her contractions while I became a whirling dervish and cleaned the kitchen, finished packing THE bag, getting pillows together and keeping a list of the contractions.

I also took the last known picture of your Mom pregnant with you in the wee hours of Saturday morning, making it officially the 39th week picture.


Not too shabby, considering that we started out like this, on week 8:

As February 26th turned into February 27, your Mom called the doctor to tell her what was happening. The doctor recommended that we stay at home as long as possible to be as comfortable as possible. We abided...and tried to hang on as long as possible.

So we tried to get some sleep. I blew up the air mattress and we turned out the lights. With each contraction, I'd turn on a flashlight, note the time and watch in awe as your Mom muscled through. This lasted for 2 contractions.

Then we decided to watch some TV, and coast through the contractions. This lasted for 2 contractions.

Concurrently, around midnight your Mom started rating the contractions with Tourrettes-like finesse :

12:33 was "BAD"
12:44 was "getting stronger"
12:59 was "Worse! JESUS!"
and 1:10 am was "Jimminy Christmas!"

At 1:24 am we left for the hospital. I hit every bump on the road accidentally. But, I drove safely and we got there safely, if not a little painfully.

At 2:18 am we were checked into triage unit and it was confirmed that she was dilated 3-4 centimeters.

I asked the nurse if we were admitted to the hospital. She said "Definitely."

So, off to Room 7 we went, where your Mom was hooked up to machinery and continued having stronger and stronger contractions, all without medicine, as per her wishes.

How does this story end? Well, we already know the beautiful end result.

But for the thrilling conclusion, you'll have to tune back in later.

To be continued...as we waited for you:

The Line in The Sand...And some new developments

A challenge has been issued, little buddy:

Apparently the general consensus among non-medical people other than your Mother and I is that you are going to be early!

In fact, on Sunday, Jeremy and Michelle made a wager that your Mom wouldn't "last" 14 days! That would put your birthday on February 21st! Well, your Mom and I are still convinced that you're going to make it to March. I mean, heck we're already 3 days into that 14 day line-in-the-sand and your Mom hasn't even had a contraction.

I think we're going to make it to the finish line without a problem!

Let's take a look at the facts:

• Your Mom is 2 cm dilated
• You will be considered "full term" as of 37 weeks- this coming Saturday
• The doctor didn't say anything about your Mom being "effaced" (the thinning of the cervix)
• Your Mom is acting like a champ...albeit a champ with back pains that cause her to sleep on the couch and sort of flounder around to be able to shift positions
• We haven't packed our bags to go to the hospital yet
• We haven't put your car seat in the car yet (and we're not allowed to take you home with us without your car seat installed)
• Your Mom officially goes on Maternity leave in 2 days
• The doctor said you were right on schedule, as far as growth and weight gain.

And there are some new announcements too, though:

1. ............. After weeks and weeks of waiting, your Mom is now a "). " It's an Outie! Alright, so it's not quite an all-the-time official outie yet, but your Mom's belly button has officially made the switch from a most-of-the-time inny to a most-of-the-time small outie.
2. Your Mom can eat again regular amounts of food again (for a while she couldn't eat a lot...but had to eat a little frequently, because she got full so easily). This may mean that her organs are probably not smushed together anymore, which means that there's not a little you craming all her entrails together. This means you may have "dropped" - which means you may now be engaged in the birthing canal.

So...who knows who is right? Some of these signs may indicate that you won't make it to the 21st of February. Some indicate that we're right on time for a March delivery.

Whenever you do arrive, though, we'll be ready for you. We're putting the car seat together this weekend, and packing the bag tonight and tomorrow. So, let me revise my statement: as long as you arrive after this weekend, we'll be ready for you. Mostly.

Countdown

Week 35, month 8, and this whole pregnancy are nearing the finish line really quickly around here.

First of all, the belly that used to only be occasionally in the way is now officially 100% in the way 100% of the time. Not that your Mom doesn't love the belly, and love what's inside it even more (not just her internal organs, I was mostly referring to you. But, she is so uncomfortable now that she said today she was nearing the time when she was just about ready for you to pop out. And plus, the laundry bills are getting pretty high with the in-the-way belly's encounters with food. Just check out the contact the belly made with the innards of a Cherry Cordial the other day (the black stripes are, in fact, the cordial goo):


And, the side-by-side comparisons we've been doing this whole time clearly indicate that we're super close to the finish line too.

Here's week 15:

And in a mere 20 weeks, check out how much you've grown! Week 35:



Another way I cleverly determined that we're almost there is that the little ticker we have on this site says it's officially 30 days til your due date!

But, after today's visit with the doctor, we're not entirely sure that you're going to make it to that due date! You see, besides being right on target with the tummy measurements (35 inch belly...just on schedule for 35 weeks), right on target with the weight gain (as promised, your Mom gained 2 more pounds in the last 2 weeks, bringing her weight to 148 pounds! (and 33 pounds over all)).

But, something that wasn't quite expected was that your mom is TWO CENTIMETERS dilated. Now, the magic number of dilation for babies to come out is 10, and women have been known to hold at five centimeters of dilation for 5 weeks (and wind up needing to have labor induced), but this revelation was pretty stunning. It means that not only are you coming (and soon), but that the light at the end of the tunnel has, quite literally, gotten a little bit bigger.

An On-Time Weinstein?

Your Mom went to see Dr. Hagood today, and everything is progressing just perfectly!

Your Mom is gaining weight at the right tempo: Today she weighed in at 146 pounds. December 16, your Mom weighed 142 at the doctor's office. So, that means she's gained 4 pounds in 5 weeks. (and 31 pounds overall!) Not quite up to the pound-a-week that they wanted her to be gaining in this trimester, but no one's arguing over a pound.

Even though your mom is very consciously approaching an all-time close proximity to my weight, she is right on target for this stage of pregnancy. She's not in any danger of turning into a Jek Porkins, by any means!

This weight gain being right on target, would indicate that you may be one of the few Weinsteins who isn't chronically late. After measuring your Mom's weight, belly circumference and your heart beat, Dr. Hagood said that you're 'right on target.'

And if we stay on target, then you'll be an early March baby just as predicted.

Stay on Target

And, Dr. Hagood also told your Mom that she wouldn't LET you be too late. If you're not here by March 13th, then the good doctor is going to assist your arrival. Forcefully.

So, you will be an on-time Weinstein after all. I guess the question now, though, is will you be an Early Weinstein? (So very few "early Weinsteins" exist in the wild or captivity that they're almost an endangered species!)

A Thousand Words

Sometimes a picture comes along that just says it all. Sometimes I take that picture.

This picture is that picture. Or at least to me, it is.

I could ramble on again about everything we're doing this week to prepare for you (including buying about 10,001 picture frames for your mom's plan to decorate your nursery and digging up memories of an old poster of Fairy Tale land and reading more rapidly through the pregnancy books).

I could tell you how I'm freaking out a little about birthing and materials necessary and the shower and emergency routes to the hospital and how to tell when your mom is in labor and whether or not we want to register your cord blood and get professional pregnancy pictures.

I could tell you how I'm flabbergasted that you could theoretically be here- and be full term- in as few as 6.5 weeks!

But, instead, I just want to share this picture with you. When I get overwhelmed or nervous with all we have to do before you get here, I will try to transport myself to the frame of mind that this picture induces: you are here, you are coming, your Mom is gorgeous and we are so excited and simultaneously at peace and in awe with your impending arrival.

Also, sorry about the smudges on the mirror. We have to do something about that.