Current Events

Today Clark is one week old, and it has certainly been an eventful week. I started feeling contractions just as we watched the rover Curiosity land on Mars. The London Olympics just finished up, though I have to admit we didn't watch any of it - our dish was out of alignment and that just happened to be one channel we weren't getting. Those days in the hospital are now just a blur as we settle into our new life at home. Grandma Nancy arrived on Saturday and we're keeping Aurora out of school this week to spend some quality time with the whole family. Here are a few pics from Nancy's camera:

It's nice to have Grandma here to spend time with Aurora while I focus on the baby and keep everybody fed. Chuck is on leave from work and really seems to be enjoying this family time, and Clark is a good eater and a sleepy little guy. What's happening in the rest of the world?

Sleepovers

As you know, we were discharged from the hospital on Thursday afternoon. What you may not know is that we didn't see Aurora again until Friday at 5:30pm. Instead of coming home Thursday, Presley's mom picked her up from school and the girls had their first sleepover. She's been asking for a sleepover at Presley's house for months, and while I'm so thankful her mom said yes, I really just can't believe our little girls are big enough to start having slumber parties! Elizabeth sent me a couple pictures of our silly girls, who spent hours playing dress-ups and reading books together:

Aurora claims they did not sleep at all, which I don't believe for one minute. At our house... well, that may have been a different story. Actually, Clark's a pretty sleepy little newborn. Chuck set up our sleeping arrangements, which include his head at the foot of our bed so he can hear the baby breathe (he did that with Aurora too), and Clark woke up every 2-3 hours to eat and poop, then pretty much went straight back to sleep. I hope he can keep that up...

Birth Story

I realize that I never really posted a birth story for Aurora - just photos. With that experience I'd say it was pretty hard on me and not so hard on her - all in all, a pretty normal delivery. This one was a little different. Way easier on me, but a bit harder on the baby.

I started timing contractions late Sunday night, and while they weren't painful, I figured it was his due date so they must be the real deal. Laura came over to spend the night with Aurora and we headed over for a labor check. By 4am we were around 3cm, which doesn't amount to much progress but since we were full-term they admitted us and started the process going. I was 4cm by 8am when they broke my water and gave me an epidural, then started a slow pitocin drip to help speed things along. By 11am I was just 5cm and they said we were taking baby steps, but we'd get there - then they left us alone for awhile. Just after Noon I started feeling intense pressure, so around 12:40pm I called the nurse and asked if they could re-check my progress. At 1pm she brought the doctor on call and when they went to check me, little Clark was right there and ready to come out! Wow. I pushed just a handful of times without any pain and was really able to experience it this time - whereas I was pushing and in pain for close to 2-hours with Aurora and really starting to struggle at the end. 

While I certainly experienced less distress, Clark wasn't quite as lucky. His cord had wrapped his hand up near his neck, and he came out covered in meconium, which means he had his first bowel movement at some point during the delivery. He'd swallowed and potentially inhaled it, which can be dangerous. They quickly started assessing the situation and within a few minutes had taken him to NICU to help him breath and take chest x-rays. I wasn't scared, but it wasn't quite how I'd expected things to happen next. The doctor and nurses explained everything very clearly and gave us some worst case scenarios: we may be there for a week, we may not get to feed or hold him for awhile, I'd have to pump, etc... and then we were in the room alone. Once we could finally go see him, he looked like this. He wasn't happy, but he was definitely the biggest baby in the NICU!

The next time we went in, he was very hungry and I was able to give him his first bottle. He'd already been downgraded to where he didn't need the full breathing apparatus. There were some streaks in his lung x-ray at first, but he was breathing well on his own so they were just administering extra air.

The days are a blur, but soon they were able to take the nose tube out and let him in our room. At that point all he had was an IV in his head for antibiotics and I was finally able to feed him myself.

By Wednesday evening they had confirmed a clear x-ray and were able to take out all the tubes and let him room in with us. We did have to stay in the hospital one extra day, but it certainly could've been worse! Laura had been bringing Aurora to visit us each evening, and yesterday she was finally able to meet her little brother. We had a birthday party for him complete with favors, gifts, and cake.

Aurora loved touching his soft head and gave him some sweet kisses. I like to think they'll get along!

The NICU and postpartum nursing staff took great care of us, and the hospital food wasn't bad at all. I can't thank Laura enough for taking care of our girl and fighting traffic to commute to work and the hospital each day. Our family will miss her when she moves to California next week.

And now we have this adorable little boy! He looks different each day, but I see a lot of Aurora as a baby when I look at him. I thought Aurora looked so much like Chuck at first, but Clark might look a little more like I did as a newborn... 

Being home definitely feels good. Chuck's kept the atmosphere relaxed all week long with soothing music, and tonight we're just having a quiet evening at home. Here's hoping we sleep well tonight!

We did it!

After a surprisingly fast and easy labor and delivery, Clark William Wadey joined our family today at 1:31pm, weighing 8 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches long. The doctor said that since it's a leap year, he was really right on time... I hope this picture works. More to come when we get home!

Due Date

This baby sure seemed like he wanted to come early, but here we are on his official due date and he seems fairly content staying right where he is.

He's been moving less, I think my belly has dropped, and I'm feeling achy today - but I'm not sure if that amounts to much. Will we have to work tomorrow? Will I have to set an appointment with Dr. Belt on Thursday and schedule an induction? How big is this baby going to be? How much longer can we wait patiently for this little boy? So many questions...

Birthday Boy

I think it's safe to say that Chuck will remain the only August 1st birthday in our house, which is just fine. This evening Aurora and I picked out a yummy dinner and some cute desserts to celebrate.

I had my 39 1/2 week OB appointment this morning, which was interesting. Just as I recreated a photo from 4-years ago in my last post, today I felt like I relived the exact conversation I had with Dr. Belt 4-years ago. It went something like this:

Dr. Belt: "Well, you're still 2 cm dilated and there's been no change. I'm going out of town for a week so we'll make an appointment for next Thursday and at that point we can talk about induction."

Me: "No, the baby's due this weekend and tomorrow's a full moon. I will not still be pregnant next Thursday."

I was right last time. Aurora came during a full moon weekend, just before her due date, while my OB was on vacation. I see no reason why this would be any different! Of course, I don't actually have any control over it and I know plenty of women who go past their due dates, so I probably shouldn't be so confident. The most important thing is that Clark and I are both very healthy - he's measuring just right and I'm feeling good. This boy will come on his birthday, whenever that is supposed to be.

Still Pregnant

That was the title of the blog I posted 5-days before Aurora was born, when I was 39 weeks pregnant with our first baby, and this is the photo I included in that post:

April 13, 2008

And here I am today... just over 4 years later, 39 weeks pregnant once again, and hopefully right around 5-days away from delivering our second child:

July 28, 2012

The angles may be slightly off, but I think my belly looks bigger this time around! I really do feel ready for this baby to come, but I know that another few days or a week doesn't matter if it gives him a little extra time to grow and develop. I'm still hoping that my next post is from the hospital...

No Stress

This morning I went in for my 38.5 week OB appointment and I have to say, I was not feeling my best. I didn't sleep well last night and couldn't eat or stay hydrated. I didn't feel sick, but I was having some good contractions and they were affecting me. Dr. Belt decided to keep me longer to get some fluids in me and they did a non-stress test to monitor my contractions and baby's heart rate and movements. Clark is doing great, and I was feeling better after the IV. This was my view for about 2 hours.

My team at work just put together a baby pool guessing the date and time this little guy will be born. Laura says tomorrow and I'm not ruling that out, though I'm still just 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced.

  

Laura	July 26th, 11:56pm
Tina	July 29th, 9:30am
Kelley	August 1st, 2:00am
Amber	August 1st, 2:30pm
Michael	August 2nd, 2:28am
Jakob	August 2nd, 2:56pm
Robert	August 3rd, 6:33pm

You should probably get in on this... guess the date and time in the comments below!

Progress

No, no progress with baby. In fact, I've had fewer contractions these last few days than I've had in months! But Aurora had great progress this weekend with her swim lessons. She did so well that next week she's moving up to level 4. Check out this 'blue fish' kicking her feet with her head under water. It's kind of too bad that she only has one lesson left - she's really starting to enjoy it.

We also enjoyed going to a little friend's 4th birthday party this weekend. His name is Wade and his whole family calls him Wadey. I think Chuck was freaking out a little hearing his name being called all afternoon, but Aurora and Wade sure had fun in the bounce house!

Speaking of great swimmers and birthday celebrations, today is Grandma Nancy's birthday!!! Nancy, I don't think this baby will come on your big day. Hope you have a great one!

Pre-Labor?

This pregnancy has been so similar to my last in so many ways, but I have to say - when I woke up in the middle of the night with contractions the first time around, I knew it was the real deal and it was! Last night when I woke up at midnight with painful contractions that wouldn't go away, I did what I was supposed to do; drank water and timed the contractions to figure out how close together they were. After over an hour of minute-long contractions spaced 3-minutes apart we woke Aurora up and headed to the hospital for a labor check. I spent the next hour with contractions spaced just a minute apart, but they got me hydrated and when they checked me I was just 2cm dilated and 50% effaced. They said it looked like I was in pre-labor and kept me to see if I'd make more progress, but the contractions started easing up and I didn't dilate further so they sent me home. I wouldn't exactly call it a false alarm, but at 37.5 weeks pregnant, while technically full term, they said there was a good chance the contractions would stop. If I'd been 39+ weeks along they would've likely started me on a pitocin drip to speed things along. Anyway, Chuck took a couple of cute pictures of us at 2am:

I asked how I'd know when I should come back, and the nurse said I wouldn't be smiling anymore. I have to disagree because I was still smiling at 6cm dilated with Aurora, when they broke my water and gave me an epidural! I stayed home from work today and got some sleep, then went to my normal OB appointment where I was still just 2cm dilated. My doctor told me we did the right thing and anytime I'm having contractions like that, we should come in. Our doctor's office is right across the street from the hospital, so Chuck took another picture to show where we spent the night:

It's strange to have a false alarm and leave the hospital still pregnant, and even stranger to think that this baby could really come any day - or we could keep having more false alarms! Laura's staying the night tonight just in case and we'll let you know if anything changes.

Happy Birthdays and Sad Goodbyes

The last few days have been about as packed as they could've been. After swim lessons and breakfast with one of Aurora's friends Saturday morning, we headed out to the lake to celebrate Amelia's birthday. Aurora especially loved playing and swimming with Cody...

Chuck and I enjoyed sitting in the shade with our friends. I love these girls and can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon. I'm sad to say that couple of my best friends will be moving away soon. After the party at the park, we headed out to a farewell dinner for Bailey.

This picture reminds me of the time when Bailey and I took Aurora out for dinner and a little boy came up to us and said "I have one mommy." Don't we look like a happy family?! Bailey came on board to cover for my first maternity leave, and now she's moving to Delaware to start a new job just before I head out for my second. It's been a pretty good 4+ years.

Laura's also going to be moving. She's heading to California next month, but she'll be staying a bit longer so she can watch Aurora when we go to the hospital to deliver baby #2. She spent some quality time with Aurora yesterday to get the routine down while we went out to dinner and a movie. It was so nice to go out one last time before the baby and celebrate our anniversary, and I think they had just as much fun as we did. Laura took Aurora to a bounce house!

Tonight my friends and I watched our last episode of the Bachelorette all together (though the finale isn't until next week). Bailey gave us a cute "Welcome to Austin" onesie, welcoming little Clark to town just as she's leaving. I feel a little sad that this may be our last time together!

I told Chuck a few weeks ago that my best friends were leaving, so it was up to him to be my best friend again. He responded with something like "I'm giving you another baby." HA! Even so, this does feel like the end of an era, and these ladies will be missed very much in the Wadey household.

Thank goodness we'll still have Amelia, Sarah, Tracey and Jill (and Laura for a little while longer!). Happy Birthday, Amelia!!!

Time Flies

Yesterday was my 6-year anniversary working for the Foundation, and today is our 15-year wedding anniversary. I have no idea what we were thinking getting married so young or how so many years could fly by this quickly - but I sure do feel lucky to be right where I am. Today at work I got roses as well as cupcakes and a nice card, and we have a date night planned for the weekend to celebrate. I'm pretty sure it's the last we'll have for awhile.

This week I've been focusing on getting everything squared away at work while taking care of the little details at home before baby comes. We packed our hospital bag, installed the new car seat, and solidified our labor plan with Laura, who will be watching Aurora when we go to the hospital. Lately I've been having a lot of false labor contractions and at this point it could happen anytime!

I wanted to share one more picture from our baby shower. Amelia came up with this adorable game of "what will baby brother will look like?" for the kids. Aurora and Melody colored so many of these, and they all turned out so funny. I'm pretty sure he's going to be a cute boy...

And here's a picture of my mom at her baby shower when she was pregnant with me, almost 36 years ago.  She was about 12 years younger here than I am now, and looking pretty cute herself!

Aurora says she can't remember what it's like to be inside my tummy, and I assured her that I don't remember being in my mommy's tummy either. Yup... time sure does fly.