Tamara

Emerson Jude 31 Weeks

This week, Jude measures over 16 inches long. He weighs about 3.3 pounds (try carrying four navel oranges) and is heading into a growth spurt. He can turn his head from side to side, and his arms, legs, and body are beginning to plump out as needed fat accumulates underneath his skin. He’s moving a lot too! All this moving is a sign that he is active and healthy. Unfortunately it also means that he is putting his mama in a good deal of pain! My back hurts, enough so that I actually went home early one day last week. I could hardly walk, and in my job, mobility is very important. He moved a little so that day by day, I progressively got to feeling better. For a brief few moments the other day I was entirely without back pain. It was bliss. I look forward to that sensation again once he is out. But for now, every single trip through the house, bend over or roll over is measured and weighed: how much do I need to do this? Fortunately I have a lot of support at work and home, so what I need to do is actually fairly limited.

Our sickness is on the way out. I am so happy because in pregnancy illness lasts longer. This one was in and out within the week. Gigi, on the other hand, is still fighting it. We were finally able to get our hands on some antibiotics though and she seems to be on the upswing, thank goodness. I have been hit by those blessed pregnancy mood swings this week. It doesn’t take much to make me cry or have hurt feelings. I feel bad for Bradley, who ends up walking on egg shells around me. Even Gigi can hurt my feelings now. Usually I have a pretty thick skin and am even tempered, in fact I think I’m usually one of the the most happy/even tempered people I know, but not right now. Now I need to be coddled apparently.

We had a visit with the doctor this week. Now we are on the every other week plan, and we have set up our appointments through to the end. That was kind of exciting. I asked a lot of questions about the logistics of the hospital stay this time, and the possible c-section date. They have changed things, for the better I think. For a c-section delivery I will only be in the hospital for 2-3 days! Yeah! With Gigi we were there for five LONG days and all we wanted to do was go home. The staff was annoying and disruptive, waking us up all night, so for five days we didn’t get any sleep and felt stuck. This time I’ve been worried about my baby girl and her feelings of displacement while we were stuck in the hospital. I am so pleased that we will be home so quickly! We also came up with a delivery date of March 26th or 27th. They are going to look at the surgery board to see if they have times available on those days, so that is pretty exciting to consider. Hopefully he stays put for that long, though I don’t know. Those contractions and cramps are becoming more and more frequent. He may want to come earlier, and frankly, I am thinking he will do so. Nonetheless, March 26th is my parents anniversary. That is a pretty neat connection! Besides that, I gained two pounds and found out that as long as we get a big enough OR, my mom can come to the delivery with us. I don’t know why, but having her there offers a bit of needed security for me.

Remember a long time ago when I said that my baby bump was off to the right? I wasn’t crazy. My doctor confirmed that indeed my uterus leaning the right for some reason. I think that explains all the extra back and hip pain, which is on my left. My body is trying to compensate for the lean.

Finally, the big deal of the week, was packing for the hospital. It seems early, but not. As I was going through our baby clothes, I came to the realization that we have a tiny little stack of newborn stuff and a HUGE stack of 3-6 month stuff. Like 7 times the amount of what we have for newborn wear! Hopefully he grows into the 3-6 month category soon! Gigi lingered in the 0-3 month stage for three months and I remember getting pretty bored of those same boring clothes until we got a bunch of hand me downs from Beth’s niece. It was hard to decide what to bring for him to wear, and harder for me to figure out what to bring to wear for the trip home. What can sit in a suitcase for the next nine weeks without being missed? I decided on workout clothes since I am not doing so much of that lately! For the baby, it needed to be functional and cute, since taking pictures is the number one pastime in hospitals when babies are born! I ended up packing way more than he will ever wear, but I needed extra socks in case his feet are too big or small, extra hats that are dependent on his head size… You get the idea.

As I was going through the baby stuff I also realized that we REALLY need to get on track as far as organizing the baby stuff. We have no dresser for the kid yet so everything is sitting in paper bags, plastic sacks, and the gift bags we received things in. Classy and ever so organized, NOT! We are headed to Ikea today to look for a few other needed things. Perhaps a solution will present itself.

We figured out the theme for the baby’s room: 1950’s space theme, with rockets, robots and all. It should be pretty cute!

Have a nice week. It’s supposed to be really cold!
Tami

Posted on 01.20.08 to Tamara. Grab the feed. No comments yet. Comment or trackback from your own site.

Tamara

Jude 30 Weeks

Emerson Jude is about 15.7 inches long now, and he weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). A pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds him, but that volume will decrease as he gets bigger and takes up more room in my uterus. His eyesight continues to develop, though it’s not very keen; even after he’s born, he’ll keep his eyes closed for a good part of the day. When he does open them, he will have 20/400 vision.

We’re sick! The Littlejohns have all caught a cold. Gigi’s is a little disconcerting as it is carrying a low fever with it, which makes me think some kind of infection has settled in…

Other than that, I am feeling better than I have in weeks! My back is not hurting right now (knock on wood), my gallbladder is being quiet (again, knock on wood), and my varicose veins are just chilling, not a word from them in a while. It is good. PLUS I have popped out there quite suddenly. My mom was surprised when I sent the picture of my bulging belly to her. She had seen me the week before and I wasn’t showing all that much. I guess Jude is in a totally different position. I’m loving it! The other interesting thing that has been happening are Braxton Hicks contractions. For a while I thought the baby was just in an ‘interesting’ position for a few moments. Suddenly it dawned on me that they are those lovely preparatory contractions. This is all fairly new to me. With Guinevere, I didn’t show until about the last week, she hardly ever moved, and I had nary a contraction until I was finally induced well after her due date had come and gone. This pregnancy is the total flip side: wiggly baby, big tummy, daily contractions… Will there be an early arrival? I guess we’ll have to wait and see if all the opposites come to fruition!

I have spent a good part of my weekend filling out paperwork and writing our birth plan for the hospital. It seems strange that we are close enough to delivering that I am needing to take care of the necessary forms. Next week I have my final monthly appointment with my doctor. Then we move on to every other week. How exciting!

I started teaching again last week. It was really nice to be back, though terribly exhausting. I was in bed or napping in the early evenings several days last week. I love teaching though, and again was so grateful for this class I am teaching. They are so kind and sensitive. I can’t say enough good things about how supportive and helpful they are to me. I am blessed.

Suddenly, over the past few days, we have been getting grief over the name we have chosen for our son. I know that we are not naming him a typical name, but it is the best most beautiful name we can think of for him. It is hurtful when people are critical of this, the first gift, we are giving our child. The criticism also makes us just want to share less. It is the name Guinevere would have had were she a boy. People questioned that name as well, but have admitted as time has passed that it is an incredibly fitting name for her. Emerson Jude’s name will be the same. We are blessed enough to be able to use both of those wonderful names. And what’s with all the pressure to name a boy after somebody? Because he is a boy does not make him an instant carrier of ancestral names. If that were the case, men would be walking around with all sorts of awkward names like Abernathy and Ichabod that have been passed down through the generations. He will already carry Littlejohn. He will be Emerson Jude. And we love that name.

Quite cutely, Guinevere has begun to carry a baby doll everywhere sh goes. He is imaginary Baby Jude and he goes everywhere with us, to the mall, the stores, and always buckled tightly in the car. At home, he is in the baby swing, the bassinet, the highchair, and is frequently placed on my lap to be nursed. I suppose this is Guinevere’s way of getting used to having a baby around. It is very sweet how careful and protective she is of her ‘little brother.’

So anyhow, blessings to all.

Stay healthy, wash your hands, sneeze into your elbow, all that good stuff!
Tami

Posted on 01.13.08 to Tamara. Grab the feed. No comments yet. Comment or trackback from your own site.

Bradley, Tamara

Birth Plan

Birth Plan

Posted on 01.13.08 to Bradley, Tamara. Grab the feed. No comments yet. Comment or trackback from your own site.

Tamara

Jude 29 Weeks

Emerson now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. I looked up pictures of 29 week old babies who are healthy and it amazed me that our little one looks that much like a baby now! His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is growing bigger to make room for his developing brain. His bones are soaking up lots of calcium, so I need to be sure to drink my calcium enriched OJ. This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your Jude’s hardening skeleton each day! This has become a concern of mine lately since the gallbladder seems to say NO to a lot of dairy.

This week the gallbladder has thankfully taken a breather. In fact, the only thing that is really bothering me in the least is the lower back pain from the spreading ligaments in my hips (helped along by a little round head, I’m sure). My sleep schedule has been a bit off, so I feel like I am not getting enough rest. But really, it is late nights coupled with late mornings that are making me feel so tired. That plus the many night time trips to the loo! Back to work will alleviate this problem I’m sure, when I have to get back to my usual schedule.

I am feeling pretty amazed that we are so close to the end of this pregnancy. It is flying by! 11 weeks is nothing! As I am looking ahead and planning for my teaching, I am becoming all too aware of how close the WASL is, thus how close we are to holding our son. He is due two weeks before the big test and I have a lot to accomplish before then both in my teaching and getting ready for the baby. It will be a roller coaster. Plus, I know enough people who have gone into labor quite early, not me I’m sure, that I want to make sure we are ready for everything.

I have suddenly sprung into motion. I know that typical nesting does not really happen until RIGHT before labor and birth, but this weekend has found me asking Bradley to move all the baby stuff inside so I can clean it and yesterday I HAD to go to Home Depot to get the paint needed to finish off the bathrooms and the kids’ rooms. Then I clean clean cleaned all day yesterday. Plus put together and painted the crib. And washed the baby seat… You get the idea. My back paid for all that activity, but I am feeling like I accomplished something during my break. Or at least set up things for me to do in the next few weeks when I have a few moments.

Just to clarify, we are not calling the baby EJ ever. I have just written that as a shortened version f his initials. He will be Jude or Emerson. There has been a little misunderstanding in this area as I have been talking to people!

We had a really nice, really low key New Year’s Eve celebration. We played the Wii, ate lots of junk, and celebrated Chicago New Year’s (10:00). Bradley’s mom came over and we just had the nicest time. Then on the day of New Year’s, I spent my time clearing out all the Christmas decorations while Bradley detailed the car. Upon seeing our barren home, we both sunk into that post Christmas funk that hovers a few days after the most wonderful time of the year passes.

Bradley bought a bike with his birthday money and has been riding all over town to pick up groceries and library books. He is amazed at how easy it is and is now looking into getting one of those trailer things to haul the kids along with him.

Just a fun bit of news, our good friends Vince and Jamie had a trip to the hospital for dehydration. They are pregnant and Jamie has those horrible pregnancies where morning sickness is debilitating for almost the entire time. Anyways, they had an ultrasound that revealed TWINS! We are just amazed and so excited for them, so exciting. What a life changing event.

Have a wonderful week. 11 weeks and counting. How amazing…
Tami

PS: Thanks to those of you who have been commenting to me lately. It is nice to know who is reading this and always nice to hear from my friends. Cassandra’s post last week was particularly hilarious and made many folks, my mom included, laugh heartily (quote follows): Forgot one thing. The “freakishly strong dance” your feeling. Is really ninja kicks, karate, running, stick sword fighting, and maybe a little rock throwing. 🙂 thanks cassandra!

Posted on 01.07.08 to Tamara. Grab the feed. No comments yet. Comment or trackback from your own site.

Tamara

Week 28

By this week, Emerson Jude weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of his head to his heels. He can blink his eyes, which now sport lashes. With his eyesight developing, he may be able to see the light that filters in through my womb. He’s also developing billions of neurons in his brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

Me?  I am doing pretty well.  The baby is letting me know he is here often with his freakishly strong dance moves.  My round ligaments are really pulling now and all this post Christmas shopping has really challenged me.  I often tell Bradley to walk ahead while I take my own sweet time in getting to the destination.  My hips are definitely spreading in preparation for childbirth.  I feel loose and a little achy in the hips.  I guess I should have told my body that it doesn’t need to do that as I am having the good old c-section!

I am still battling the obnoxious gallbladder.  But that is just a once in a while thing, like once a week.  The attacks are getting worse in intensity and length, which is not fun.  People have invited us out and around to dining experiences which we usually turn down, and have commented that I am being so good and controlled.  However, I have great motivation for not partaking.  The pain when I have an attack is no longer responsive to my Percoset and now involves vomiting.  It is so unpleasant that I have figured out ways to eat fat free that are kind of silly but help me to feel like I actually get to eat good food.  For example, I sprinkle a little salt on my toast and jelly to take the place of the buttery salty taste.  And fat free cream cheese has really come a long way!  I have also embraced sushi (cucumber/avocado rolls) and make a big batch every week to enjoy as I wish.  Initially I said that having all these attacks was my way of making up for not doing the whole labor thing, but at this point I am not sure it is worth it!   If I keep up this pattern of once a week for about 4.5 hours, it would equal a 3-4 day labor.  Not a good trade!

Christmas came and went way too fast!  I was out of school, and before I knew it Santa was on his way!   Guinevere had a wonderful morning.  She was cute.  As she opened her gifts she would stop and play with them, even stopping to read books.  Bradley was able to get a hold of a bunch of Ben Folds mini albums that I really wanted.  That was pretty exciting for me.  He even got a signed copy of one of them.  Ever since then I have been in a bit of a Ben Folds craze, downloading from itunes, obsessively reading articles online.  I guess this is what happens to me when I have a little bit of time on my hands!  Bradley also made a family website as a surprise fr me.  It is really beautiful and we are trying to create usernames for family and friends.  I’ll let you know wen you can access it.  Bradley was excited to receive the new Star Wars pop up book.  He is really into pop-ups right now and curious about making them.  I think the next art lessons he will be teaching in class with be in creating pop-ups, he is so inspired.  We’ve been trying out the Wii.  We took video of the grand opening and Gigi was incredibly excited.  We are still having to train ourselves on how to actually use it, but we are getting better…

Saturday was Bradley’s unofficially official birthday.  He celebrates it officially in June because December birthdays stink.  It was nice but a strange day.  I am never sure about quite what to do on his actual birthday.  I don’t want to ignore it, but at the same time I don’t want to do two birthdays.  We compromised by having cupcakes and eating at Red Robin.  It was nice.

Today our main computer’s power source went out.  We are taking it in to get fixed this week, but it is the computer where we do all of our e-mailing and stuff.  I apologize if you send stuff to us that we don’t respond to.  We still have other computers, but are more limited with them.  Fortunately the good ol’ Apple company is fixing it for free.  See, there’s a reason we switched.

Well, that’s it.  Have a wonderful New Year.  I have one week until school starts again.  I will get to catch all up on my Grey’s Anatomy and be well rested in time for school!  I am actually sleeping in!  Bliss.
Tamara

Posted on 12.27.07 to Tamara. Grab the feed. No comments yet. Comment or trackback from your own site.