Audrey Ann is here!

Sorry it took so long for us to get these uploaded! If you can imagine, we are beyond exhausted...and ecstatic...and running around like chickens with our heads cut off. For all of you who have contacted us and we haven't gotten back yet: We are so thankful that you are thinking of us and we feel truly blessed to have such a sweet little girl in our lives. I'll post more info about how perfect our daughter is when my brain can actually function. Until then, enjoy the pictures!

Audrey Ann Schweighardt
July 25th, 2008 5:10pm
7lbs. 13 oz 21.5 in.





http://picasaweb.google.com/GGamelin/AudreyAnnSchweighardt

I'm Still Here!

Well, I've made it to 40 weeks and 3 days! I got to see The Dark Knight (thank you, baby!) and now John and Schmemle are patiently awaiting the babe's arrival. (read: staring at me like a ticking bomb) I'm also finding the stigma of "cranky pregnant woman" to be quite useful, as John seems to receive the majority of phone calls to find out if I've popped yet. This definitely cuts down on interruptions for me while performing so many of my important daily tasks..like napping. Honestly, it's nice to know so many people are thinking about us and hoping the baby comes soon. This kid is going to be loved!

The real reason I'm updating is that I actually have news to update with: I had a doctor's appointment today and I'm making some progress. (p.s. If you're timid of words like "dilation" and "effacement", I'd save some time and skip to the next paragraph.) I went in last Thursday for my 40 week appointment at 1 cm dilated and feeling some intermittent contractions. My doctor wanted to see how I progressed over the weekend and today I was 2 cm dilated and 60% effaced. They also had me do a non stress test and it looks like I'm contracting pretty regularly, it's just not painful...yet. Although, I did find out that I have a bruise on my uterus from baby keeping it's feet lodged under my ribs for so long. This basically translates to just feeling pain in my left ribs when I'm having these "painless" contractions (joy!) and I've been assured that the only way it's going to go away is to get that baby out. No pressure!

Anyway, from all that and the fact that I'm still able to sleep at night, my doctor and I decided to do one last biophysical ultrasound tomorrow to make sure baby's doing alright in there and we tentatively scheduled my next appointment for Monday the 28th to talk induction. Needless to say, I'm not going to be my chipper self if I actually show up at that appointment. John's mom is going to be even less pleased since she took two weeks of vacation around the baby's due date and my next appointment is the day she returns to work. This kid has apparently not yet been schooled in the art of sucking up to grandma. No candy and fruit roll-ups for you, baby!

So, there you go: I have no idea when this kid is going to make an appearance and I'm not going crazy--at least more than usual--yet. I attribute the fact that I'm taking this all in stride to excessive napping and a husband who really does jump at my smallest request, lest the lack of ice cream in my system should result in the baby's further delayed presence.

Rest assured that we'll keep you all updated on when the babe is coming (Code word: Spumoni!) and this is one of the first places we'll update with photos. Hopefully my next update will be something along the lines of "hey, we've got this baby...now what do we do?" instead of a desperate plea from John to save him from his crazy hormonal wife. Until then!

So, it's T minus one week to my actual due date...also known as the release date for the new Batman movie: Dark Knight. Perhaps this has been my motivation all along for remaining chipper about the prospect of going past my due date: one last uninterrupted movie date with John! It might sound silly, but at this point I'm using any excuse possible for motivation. Other motivating factors for keeping the bun in the oven longer include: sleep, being able to eat when I feel hungry, running errands in a timely fashion, not being concerned about anyone else's bowel movements...and more sleep.

I had another doctor's appointment yesterday and *surprise* I'm STILL BORING. My doctor keeps looking at me like a proud mother hen because everything has been going so well...and the nurse in the office who is pregnant and due two weeks after me still consistently gives me stink eye for not being more miserable. Mostly, my appointments are to check up on baby to make sure everything is going well. My doctor isn't too obsessed about "making progress" and doing internal exams every week; the game plan is to keep baby healthy and not worry about when I'm going to pop until I'm a week overdue. Honesty, in the induction-crazy society we live in, this is a great comfort to me.

Another great comfort I discovered yesterday came in the form of a magical place at the hospital called the "nourishment room". John and I went in to the birthing center at KGH to do our pre-admission paperwork and get a tour of the facility yesterday. After finishing the inquisition about my medical history, ("Ever been exposed to Hepatitis? Scurvy? Bubonic Plaque?") we get to the first stop on the tour. This is where I actually want to be allowed to labor, but I'm pretty sure it violates several health codes. The Nourishment Room is a magical land of snacks that the Labor and Delivery Nurses have access to for you 24 hours a day (This does not even include being able to order from the cafeteria from 7am to 7pm)...and when I say snack room, I'm not talking just Jello here either. I'm guessing the coffee and sandwiches are for battered, sleep-deprived husbands, but it's nice to know the option is still out there. Anyone who has known me for more than 10 minutes is well aware of my Hobbit-like eating habits and that no one...not even Nurse Ratchet...is going to stop me from snacking during labor if I want to. The fact that this place has an entire room devoted to snacks when the rest of the country is still in "ice-chips-only mode" speaks volumes. I didn't even need to see a delivery suite; my apprehension about laboring in the hospital went right out the window.

So, now I can return to my regularly scheduled lounging, free from the worry of how to smuggle snacks into the hospital. John & I think we've got a pretty good phone tree set up to keep everyone posted and we will post pictures of the babe as soon as it arrives. If you call and I don't answer the phone--Don't worry!--I'm most likely napping, floating in the pool or in a food coma. What can I say? It's a hard life.