After nine and a half hours of labor, Kenny and I were so proud to welcome our new baby boy, Riley Scott, to the world on August 30 at 5:03pm. Riley weighed in at 8lbs 9 oz at birth and was 21.25 inches long. All three of us are doing quite well and are ready to go home (hopefully tomorrow).
I intend to type up the story of the past few days at some point, but I’m not sure when I’ll get to that. In the meantime, here are some pics of our new arrival!
Well, here we go! As I type this I am fairly settled into my room, watching the Emmys and essentially tethered to my bed by numerous wires. Bean’s heartrate and my blood pressure are great, and I’ve already gone through one bag of saline. No contractions, but Bean is still moving like normal. The Cervidil is in place, so the 12 hour countdown has begun!
Leaving for the hospital
Laura, a cute young blonde, is my nurse for now. And all indications so far point to my doctor delivering me tomorrow. Let’s just hope Bean isn’t too stubborn about coming out once we start forcing him!
From BabyCenter.com:
It's hard to say for sure how big your baby will be, but the average newborn weighs about 7 1/2 pounds (a small pumpkin) and is about 20 inches long. The biggest part of your baby's body is her head, but her still-pliable skull will give it the flexibility necessary to squeeze through the birth canal. Many parents are surprised by how long and sharp their newborn's nails are from the get-go. Clipping them right away (ask a nurse for help) can prevent your baby from scratching her face.
Today’s appointment went well. My blood pressure is still good (130/74), I lost 2 pounds this past week, and Bean’s heartrate is holding steady around 140. And Bean scored a perfect 8 on the biophysical profile, although the tech had to entice him to move around for her. He was apparently sleeping soundly! The tech estimated his weight at 8lbs 1oz but said not to rely on that as absolute. It’s truly a rough guess.
I am also now 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. HUGE progress from last week! It’s still not certain I’ll go into labor at any moment, but at least it’s more of a possibility now. I go back on Friday for another check, and Sunday night is the earliest my doc said she’ll start the induction process. So, we’re just hoping and praying that labor starts on its own anytime between now and then!
And here you go, Lizzie: a photographic belly pic series, including my last 40-week pic. Enjoy! :)
Yes, I am still pregnant. But the good news is my leg is feeling a little bit better, which makes life much easier. It’s not completely back to normal, but it’s showing signs that the end is in sight. My official due date is tomorrow, August 23, but I do have an appointment scheduled for Wednesday, when I’ll have a biophysical profile done and see my doc after that. She has told me she’ll let me go a week over my due date before inducing, and the profile will help determine if this is still the right course of action.
As Kenny and I agreed this morning over breakfast (he made me blueberry pancakes…YUM!), it’s really all about Bean’s timeline. Even though momma is mighty uncomfortable, only Bean can decide when he/she is ready to come out! So I continue to rest as much as I can and try not to get too anxious. I treated myself to one last pedicure on Friday afternoon, which was much needed. I’ve also been reading, fielding a few “how-are-you-doing” phone calls, watching movies, updating my blog design, and sneaking in a load of laundry or two.
Kenny, meanwhile, is staying as busy as he can, attempting to get lots done around the house. He’s out in the stifling heat right now cutting grass and changing the transmission fluid in my car. He has also kegged his two latest beers but has to figure out why CO2 is leaking from the kegerator. He has worked hard to straighten up the garage, which turned into a hot mess after all of the attic and vehicle work he’d been focusing on in weeks past. He has cleaned the majority of our house so that Bean will have a nice place to come home to. And he continues to take wonderful care of me. :)
Ah, and it’s that special time of year again: the start of football season. Ken and I both enjoyed a leisurely night in front of the tv yesterday: the Saints were back in the Dome for the first time since their stellar 2009 season, and they certainly showed the Texans who was boss in their preseason matchup. I’ll tell you what, I am liking me some Chase Daniel, Chris Ivory, and Adrian Arrington! Can’t wait to see how this year goes for the boys in black and gold, as well as our beloved LSU Tigers. Their season starts in two weeks in Atlanta against Carolina!
In other news, Lizzie and Doug have departed for their two-week long road trip, including stops in GA, NC, DC, PA, and TN. She’s doing a travel blog to keep all of us apprised of their adventures, so I’m excited to follow them on their journey. I also recently learned that another friend of mine just departed the States for two years (YEARS!) to teach in Abu Dhabi. Wow….all the luck in the world to you, Sabrina! She’s blogging as well; check out the link on the right if you’re interested. And I of course continue to keep tabs on all of my other friends (Bridget, Newby, Carlye, and Paulan) in various states of pregnancy. I insist I’m next, though, darnit!
From BabyCenter.com:
Your baby's waiting to greet the world! He continues to build a layer of fat to help control his body temperature after birth, but it's likely he already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds, a mini watermelon. (Boys tend to be slightly heavier than girls.) The outer layers of his skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.
I had a really hard time sleeping last night. This could be because of a number of things: my lengthy afternoon nap yesterday, some bad cramping, lots of baby movement, or, of course, my right leg pain. However, I think perhaps it was mostly because of the anticipation of my doctor’s appointment this morning and hoping and praying that something is happening down yonder!
It turns out I lost sleep for nothing. The appointment went just like the last few: blood pressure (130/82) and baby heartrate (143) great, no weight gain, but no dilation. Rats! I am very much at the point where I am READY to have this kid. I’m just so darned uncomfortable all of the time, mostly because of my leg. The muscle relaxers my doc prescribed unfortunately didn’t work a bit, but Tylenol seems to help, so I’m sticking with that. And I’m keeping all of my fingers and toes crossed that labor decides to start sooner rather than later! Here’s my 39 week belly pic. :)
Oh, and Kenny just had to snap a picture of me napping the other afternoon. Check out my set-up in our bed: SEVEN PILLOWS!!! Hey, whatever works, right?
Here’s what I’ve read since the beginning of May. I hope I’ll still have time to read once Bean is here, but I’m not counting on it!
From BabyCenter.com:
Your baby has really plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long (like a leek). She has a firm grasp, which you'll soon be able to test when you hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.
Both last week's and this week's appointments went great: my blood pressure was a little bit higher last week (134/72) than this week (122/70) but still within normal limits. I actually lost 2 pounds last week but gained one back this week. And Bean's heartrate is holding strong and steady in the mid-140s. Still no dilation!
My biggest problems these days are the return of heartburn (I thought I had gotten rid of that effect!), mild cramping, and, most bothersome, pain in my right hip/glute region. This pain lasts most of the day and is worse when I'm walking around or getting up from a sitting position. But, it's especially bad at night when I'm trying to sleep. I think it's a result of having to sleep on my side....this belly of mine is heavy!
I've tried Tylenol to help with the pain but wasn't getting much relief. I also soaked in the tub for a bit the other day and that actually helped lots, but the pain came right back as soon as I lay down for the night. I told my doc about it at my appointment, and she ended up prescribing a mild muscle relaxer. I can take it every 12 hours, so we'll see if it does the trick!
Meanwhile, I'm just trying to take it easy, keeping my feet up and staying cool. I treated myself to a pedicure a couple of weeks ago and am hoping it will last until I deliver. I also got my hair cut last Friday so it wouldn't get too long before I have the chance to venture out after Bean arrives. Less than 2 weeks to go (hopefully)! Here's my 38-week belly pic. :)
Ah, when it rains it pours. Late last week I walked into the nursery and noticed that an area of carpet between the door and the crib was squishy wet. Panic! It turned out that the air conditioner drain line in the attic was overflowing. The water dripped down into the wall and got underneath the carpet in Bean’s room. That’ll certainly teach us to remember to treat the line with bleach every spring!
So, as I type this, the nursery is in complete disarray, with furniture and boxes piled up in the guest room and hallway, half of the carpet ripped up, and the slab partially exposed. The good news is there hasn’t been any more water. The bad news is Kenny thought he had fixed the problem in the attic (by completely redoing the drain), but he’s not sure he did. There still seems to be a leak or overflow problem happening, and he’s not certain why. For now, though, the water is contained in the attic in the drain pan. I’m just hoping he figures this out soon so we can make sure it doesn’t happen again!
If this had to happen, I’m glad it happened now and not a few weeks from now when Bean is here. Still very frustrating, though. It certainly wasn’t something Kenny wanted to deal with….he’s got too much on his to-do list already! He’s been hard at work the past couple of weeks on trying to finally finish up a car project, and he also decided today to construct and install wooden shelves for the closet in the office to give us a bit more storage space (we’ve been wanting to do this for awhile). Then there’s the grass that perpetually needs cutting, as well as maintaining the front gardens and cleaning my car one last time before Bean arrives, not to mention the demands of his stressful day job and having to deal with a very pregnant wife.
What can I say? He’s my hero! I love you very much, Baby!
