An Emotional Rollercoaster

...so we waited and Amy did not progress in her labor but was still having regular back pain. With the baby still a week away from being full term the doctor did not want to force labor. At about 1:00 PM they made the decision to send us home and prescribe for Amy some muscle relaxers. The first dose only gave Amy moderate relief but she took her second dose right before bed and woke up free of back pain.

So we don't know when the baby will come but we think he won't wait 29 more days. With Amy having been dilated to 4 cm we wondered how long could a person walk around like that or if it is possible to undilate (there probably is a better word for that.)

It's been quite a ride - from severe muscle spasms to possible kidney stones to beginnings of labor back to muscle spasms and then back to "normal" life. You get your mind wrapped around one "reality" and then it changes.

Stay tuned... we will keep this blog updated with the latest baby news. The hospital has free wi-fi so when the time comes this might be the quickest way to get up-to-date news and maybe even pictures.

Not a Kidney Stone

Amy was due to have the baby on November 25 although we were hoping that it would come a little early. Last night, about 9:30 PM, Amy had what we thought was a muscle spasm in her back. We tried hand massage, warm bath, vibrating massager, stretching... and nothing seemed to work. Finally, we called Amy's doctor for more suggestions. He said that what I was describing sounded a lot like a kidney stone, which he says is common in pregnant women. We came to the hospital and had tests run and were told just before 6:00 AM this morning that Amy does not have a kidney stone but that she is in labor. Most of the nurses and the doctor said that her labor is unusual but it most definitely is labor. So here we wait, expecting that sometime today we will have a little boy - 30 days before he was scheduled to arrive.

8 weeks to go

I'm not sure how well these pictures will show up - these are from our 20-week ultrasound. During this ultrasound, our little one was found to have a little too much fluid in his kidneys. Our doctor was not concerned - he said he sees this frequently and thinks it may be due to the sensitivity of the ultrasound equipment - but it's something to keep an eye on. So we had another ultrasound last week (sorry - no pictures yet - have to find someone at work to scan them for me). Everything is going well and baby is growing just like he should. He still has fluid in his kidneys, though it has decreased from the last ultrasound. We'll find out more in-depth information at our dr. appointment next week.

It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that he'll be here anywhere between 6 and 10 weeks. I'm feeling more settled about that now than I was even a week or two ago. A lot of that has to do with the fact that work is slowly - very slowly - starting to slow down. It's been an intense summer (which is our Christmas season in marketing) - more intense than most can remember. Everyone is stretched, working 50, 60 or 70 hours a week. I think this last weekend was the first one I haven't worked in I can't remember how long. But we had the first proof of our final Christmas catalog today, the second catalog goes to print later this week and work has begun on January.

The person replacing me while I'm on maternity leave has started, which helps to alleviate some of the stress. It's been a little slow going as she gets up to speed and I try to figure out how to impart all that I do to her. But given at least 6-8 more weeks, I think she'll be great and I can leave my job in her very capable hands.

I've also presented my work from home proposal, and that helps lift some of the stress too. I don't have an answer yet, but the initial response was positive. Working from home will present its own challenges - challenges I'm willing to accept in order to spend the most time possible with our little one.

We'll be posting pictures of baby's room soon!