Aug

OK, It’s been a while since I have written one of these — but this is probably a good time to do another. Who know’s how long it’s going to take, but our little boy is *definitely* on the way! As Leslie has written, the signs of her early labor were so convincing last night that we made a trip to the hospital that didn’t get us our baby.

I know that Leslie is frustrated with the slow progress, and worried about the possibilities of how things might go — but I have a good feeling about this. I think our boy will be here within the next couple of days, and I am reasonably optimistic that she will be able to do it “her way” — no C-section. Whether or not an epidural will be involved is more up for grabs, I think. (We differ on this — I hear from Carolyn [Sami's wonderful Nanny] about how badly Leslie wants to do it all natural [something she hasn't *really* emphasized to me]– and I support that — but on the other hand, I was impressed last time about how focused and effective the epidural was with Sami — it wasn’t anything like the evils that the anti-physician nurses who teach the Lamaze classes describe — with a good anasthesiologist one can be quite focused as to where the sensation is knocked out, and the drugs can be titrated in indefinitely. If it were me, I would go for it once the pain got intense — but I guess I’m just a wimpy boy! %-)

In any event, things are happening. Lots of contractions — so far, with little effect — but I learned last night that this might run in the family — with Dayna, Leslie’s mom had a very extended pre-hospital labor. As Leslie’s Dr. said today, there is no predicting when it will happen, but with the regular contractions that Leslie is having, things *will* kick into high gear sometime in the next few days, and then … well, we’ll just hope that little boy Kirith isn’t the 9-lb monster that Sami was, and that he just slides on through that birth canal (as my Doctoral advisor Phoebe Ellsworth said, shortly after giving birth to her second child, “like a cannon ball”).

So we wait … As I see it, the “disappointment” of last night is actually a blessing. First we got to test our support systems — and they all worked great! We have many wonderful people standing at the ready to help us through this with whatever they might be called upon to do. Second, as we were running out the door last night, it was clear that we really weren’t prepared for “the boy” (I keep wanting to type his name — but that would be revealing the secret too soon!) to arrive just then. Now we have some time to prepare, mentally and in other ways, but as we do this we can get truly psyched that it is about to happen. Of course, this is all easy for me to say — since I don’t have to deal with the contractions, the back pain, or with the pain associated with the little guy bearing down on her pelvis almost constantly!

OK, I’m rambling so I will go do other things — more later — most likely after “the boy” has appeared, and I am trying to comfort him to sleep in the wee hours!

  

Aug

So, last night the contractions intensified, and got to the point where they were about 4 minutes apart. We called the doctor on call, and he said head to the hospital. After a few minutes of panic, thinking we weren’t ready, we pulled ourselves together and started preparing. Kim came over to stay with Sami, who was asleep, but very restlessly – she knew something was up! I hadn’t packed, so I rushed to do that while Craig sent off a few last-minute emails. Finally, about 9:30 pm, we arrived at the hospital, starting to feel very excited and…

nothing. No, really, NOTHING. I was *still* 50% effaced and *maybe* a fingetrip dilated. This, after having pretty intense contractions for 5 hours. They had me walk the halls for an hour, then re-checked me – you guessed it, still no progress. I was ***SO*** frustrated! The nurse said she could tell the contractions were more intense, and she could feel the baby bearing down really hard, but my cervix just wasn’t responding.

So, they sent us home. The nurse kind of half-expected we’d be back last night, and she said it was very doubtful that the labor would drag on like this for days. And she was very clear that I *was* in labor, this wasn’t Braxton-Hicks contractions, or false labor. It’s just that I was in the very early stages, and not progressing very fast.

Just my luck! They gave me somthing to sleep through the night last night, thinking I would need to conserve my energy for the labor. But, naturally, today things have been stalled. I’m still having the contractions fairly regularly, but they’re very mild for the most part. Every 4th or 5th one kind of takes my breath away, but otherwise nothing notable. I had a doctor’s appointment this afternoon – same old, same old (50% effaced, no dilation to speak of).

It’s funny, last night I was *very* stressed when they told me to go into the hospital, and I kept telling Craig we weren’t ready, we weren’t ready. So, on the one hand I am glad to have another day or two to get my house in order, literally and figuratively. But, on the other hand, it is hard being in the “early stages of labor” interminably – it’s taking a toll on my physically and mentally. I’m really ready to just get it over with already! All I can say at this point is, they’d *better* be right that it can’t drag on like this for too long! %-)

  

Aug

Things are “ahappnin’”, as they say here in the South…around 4:00 this morning, I started having reasonably strong contractions (enough to keep me awake, not enough to take my breath away) every 4-5 minutes. That lasted for about 4 hours, but then once I got up and started moving around, they stopped. I’ve been having sporadic contractions all day, but nothing regular. Then, about two hours ago, I started having a *REALLY* strong pressure sensation in my pelvic area, like the baby was trying to push his way out already. It’s pretty constant pressure, too. Around the same time, I also starting having pretty regular back spasms, which could or could not indicate back labor.

I called Craig and he said call the doctor – it’s funny that we’re so clueless on a second baby, but since Sami was induced, I’m not sure what’s really involved in going into labor on my own. All the doctors except the one on call had already gone for the day, and the one on call was in surgery, so I couldn’t go see anybody. The nurse said she would tell the doctor my symptoms, and if he felt like it was an emergency he would call back and tell me to come in. Otherwise, I was supposed to go home and put my feet up and drink a lot of water and see if things developed further. (I was in the lab running subjects when all this started happening…and I’m still here! I know, I know, but I *really* need to get as much data collected as possible… %-).

Now I’m having contractions again, about every 5 minutes, a little stronger than the ones this morning, but still not really painful. I’m starting to feel a little excited, but nervous, too – the due date is still 9 days away! Somehow I just didn’t expect him to come this early…and he probably won’t! Anyway, we just thought we’d keep anyone “listening” posted on what’s happening. More soon…

  

Aug

Now we are back in familiar territory – yesterday at the doctor’s office, I had made “no progress” since last week. This is what I heard *every time* with Sami, so I am pretty used to it. Actually, I told Craig that I had been worried that when we went yesterday they would tell us they had made a mistake last week and I hadn’t even started effacing yet! At least that didn’t happen. %-) So, as it stands now, I am 50% effaced, and “maybe a fingetrip” dilated (translation: not really dilating at all yet). We’ll keep you posted if things change…

In other news, this is basically the week from hell, with Craig and me basically going full-out trying to get things done before the baby comes. It’s one of those times where we keep thinking “what else can go wrong”, and then of course something does. We’re doing our best to keep our spirits up and not take it out on each other, but we’re essentially bone tired and pretty grumpy, since many of our current difficulties have to do with other people not doing what they’re supposed to be doing. Ah, well, such is life…

  

Jul

I AM 50% EFFACED!!! I am *SO* excited!!! For those of you who have never been pregnant, “effaced” involves the thickness of your cervix – it needs to thin out before you can really start dilating (which, in turn, you have to do before the baby can come out”. Anyway, with Sami, I never effaced at all (which explains why the labor didn’t progress and I ended up with a c-section). So, this is *way* more progress than I expected, partcularly since we’re still over three weeks from the due date. I’m taking this as a positive sign – maybe (unlike Sami, who was quite comfy with life on the inside), this baby actually wants to be born! %-)

The doctor was very funny – he hadn’t seen me before (I’m “rotating”, meeting my doctor’s partners in case one of them has to deliver the baby), so I guess he thought I might be disappointed that I wasn’t dilating yet. He actually didn’t use the word “effaced”, he just said “Well, you haven’t started dilating yet, but half the length is gone”. I think he was very surprised that this made me so happy.

  

Jul

We seem to have finally figured out the key to getting Sami to stay in the big-girl bed – leaving the door partially open. She has a night-light in there, but she appears to really hate it when we close the door. Every night when we put her down, she would get up, open the door, and stand at the gate and scream for a while. We discovered, really by accident, that if we just didn’t close the door, she wouldn’t get so mad/scared. Now she still cries, but she stays in the bed. Also, if she wakes up in the night, she still stays in the bed (before, she would get up and open the door, and often go back to sleep in the floor by the gate). Craig and I are heaving giant sighs of relief that we’ve finally gotten her to settle into the new bed – of course, soon the new baby will arrive, and who knows what kind of traumas that is going to unleash for Sami! It’s never-ending, I guess…%-)

In other news, Craig had a blast on his trip (I’ll try to get him to write a Blog about it, but don’t hold your breath . Craig had some more problems with the laptop right after he got home, but it *finally* seems to be working fine now. Poor guy – he has like the worst computer luck of anyone I’ve ever met. Truly. I’d gotten so used to hearing him curse the machine I hardly even noticed when things would go wrong by the end! %-)

Aaron was with us for the week again this week, and just went home today. Now the house seems ver quiet without the TV or some video game blaring constantly! %-) Seriously, I feel bad for him, since because of the pregnancy we couldn’t go on a family trip like we usually do when he is with us in the summer.

I can’t believe it is almost August – less than a month now until the baby’s due date! Tomorrow I go for my next check-up, and they will check my cervix for the first time to see if I’ve made any progress. That was one of the most frustrating parts with Sami – I *never* made any progress! so, I’m bracing myself for no news.

Enough for now…night-night!

  

Jul

Today, Craig and I had the place to ourselves (we work primarily at home in the summer, even when we don’t need to be home with Sami). It was so quiet and peaceful! It probably seems strange to most people, but I was so relieved to actually be able to get some work done. Craig joked that we needed a vacation so we could work. It’s nice not to feel guilty every time I sit down at my computer, or try to do something for myself.

And it’s good for Sami, too – we’re not just being selfish. She was so excited to see Isabella (Caroline’s daughter, two months younger than Sami) this morning when I dropped her off. And her time with Craig and me is more positive, since when she came home tonight we actually wanted to see her and play with her, rather than trying to distract her so we could do other things.

As to my tirade from last night – I don’t take any of it back, that really is my perspective on things. But, lest anyone read it and think I’m evil, do remember that I’m pregnant and my hormones are all out of whack! %-)

  

May

I’ve done it – I just bought the first thing for the new baby. Well, not just – it was two days ago now, but I’m just now getting around to writing this. Craig still maintains that it’s way too early to start buying for this baby, but I feel like if I see something I love, I should get it. Right?

Anyway, it’s just a little blanket, but it is *so* cute. It’s blue and green and very soft and cuddly. Yes, I do understand that this baby is going to be born in August; however, babies still need blankets in the summer if they’re inside with air conditioning, which is the case here. So, it was perfectly justified. And it didn’t even cost much! %-)

I love blankets. Sami has 34 blankets (no, that’s not a typo). Oh, and that’s not including the ones that people gave us that I didn’t like and packed away. Did she need 34 blankets? Not likely, but she did use all of them, at least a few times. 22 of the blankets were the fabulous two-ply ones from Gymboree, and they matched her Gymboree outfits. She used to wear a different line/style of clothes each week to daycare, and she would take the blanket that matched. They thought it was very cute. But I think she’s getting a bit old for that now, so with the new Gymboree summer line, I did *not* buy the matching blanket. It was a first. Craig is very relieved, though not nearly so relieved as he will be when I decide she is too old for Gymboree clothes…

In other news, the semester is (finally) over. Craig and I have both turned in our grades, and we are done with teaching until the end of August. We will of course probably end up with several whiny emails from students complaining about their grades, but that is to be expected and it’s easy to deal with. We have lots of paper-writing and grant-proposing to do over the summer, but it is nice to be free of the teaching at least. So, we are in somewhat of a celebratory mood these days.

Sami is now letting me know in no uncertain terms that she is ready for me to stop being in front of the computer and go back to playing with her, NOW, so I’m off…

  

Apr

Sami isn’t in daycare anymore! Now she has a “nanny” – or at least that’s what Caroline (the nanny) calls herself. Somehow the word “nanny” seems kind of pretentious to me, plus I always thought a nanny lived with the employer, and that is not the case for us. Anyway, now Sami goes each morning to Caroline’s house instead of to Playschool. Caroline has a daughter, Isabella, who is almost exactly two months younger than Sami, and they seem to get along really well. This is only our second day, but so far so good. I like it that she’s getting more individual attention, and has a friend to play with one-on-one.

The only thing Sami doesn’t like about this new setup is the cat. I took her over on Sunday morning for a couple of hours, so that she could get used to being there while I was there. She liked it – generally, she likes exploring new places. But she completely *freaked* when she saw the cat. I’ve *never* seen her react that way to anything before! She let out a really high-pitched wail and started climbing up my leg to get away from it. This happened each time she even saw the cat; finally, Caroline exiled the cat outside. I’m not a cat person myself, but Sami’s response was so extreme! I don’t know what it was that spooked her so bad. She seems to be acclimating, though – today, when I picked her up, she didn’t yell or cry when she saw the cat. Instead, she walked right up to it, leaned over so she was right in its face, and said “NO!”. It was hilarious. Caroline says she does that every time she sees it now.

Sami, true to her amazingly pleasant disposition, has settled right in to her new routine. When she started daycare in July, she was miserable the whole first week, crying every day (I wrote about this in my blogs back then). So, I was worried it would take her a while to adjust to this, too. But, no problems at all! Then it was a little different, since she had been home with us constantly for her first 5 months. Now she knows we will always come back, plus she really seems to like having a playmate. And Caroline is very nurturing, so Sami took to her right away. Craig, naturally, said he had no fears whatsoever, and knew everything would work out fine. He’s such a guy! %-)

Of course, our other big news is that we found out on Friday whether we’re having a boy or girl…it’s a ____! Sorry – I can’t say yet, since a couple of people have said they want to vote in the poll and just haven’t gotten to it yet. I’ve been telling people individually, but we’re not going to announce it officially on the site for a few more days.

Okay, time to put Sami down for the night, and grab some grub…

  

Mar

The word is out! Baby #2 for the Kiriths is going to be a boy. Now we just need to come up with something as special and as cools for his name as “Samara Rachel” is for Sami. After seeing the ultrasound, our goal was to come up with our name before we slept that night. We failed.

But we are honing in on some good ideas. As with Sami, we are going to try to keep the name a secret until after the birth. Nonetheless, we need a “working name” to tell people when they ask. With Sami one of my favorites was “Polly Esther” because Leslie was hot on Esther as a name and I wasn’t, and this was a good way nix the Esther idea. It worked! ?

For Little Boy-to-be Kirith, my current fave to fill this “working name” role is “Goliath Richard” 10 points to the first person (who we haven’t already explained this to) to guess why I like this working name so much

  

Mar

Wow – I’m going to have a son! I thought I was not sure about what I was expecting, but I was really surprised when the ultrasound tech said “it’s a boy”. So, Craig was right (I *hate* it when that happens! %-). But, so were most of the people that voted in our poll – xx% guessed that we would have a boy this time.

The ultrasound itself was amazing – Vanderbilt has one of those new fancy “3D” ultrasound machines, and we could see the baby in so much detail it was like watching a sci-fi movie or something. We could actually see the baby’s individual bones, and at one point she showed us the blood flowing in and out of the uterus. The technology was very impressive. We’re going to try to put some clips of the ultrasound video up on the web page, so stay tuned.

Sami was feeling better, and so she did get to go to her last day of school. I was very glad for her that she got to go to her party, and very relieved for us that we didn’t have to take her with us to the ultrasound – we had to wait almost 2 hours, and she would’ve been *very* bored and agitated.

WOW – I’m having a son!!! I just can’t get over it…

  

Mar

Yes, I’m obsessing, I know. I still can’t figure out what my “gut” is telling me. Half the time I think it’s a boy, the other half I think it’s a girl. From the poll we’re taking, it looks like more people think boy than girl. But, that was true when we had Sami, too.

Made some more progress on the web page today (yay! , but not too much, because Sami is sick. She has some nasty intestinal virus – I’ll spare you the details, but it has not been fun. The doctor had us put her on this nightmarish schedule where she had to go an hour without vomitting before she could have *any* fluids at all, and then she could only have 1 ounce. Every 15 minutes that she kept it down, we could add another ounce. But if she threw up – back to square one. She was so pitiful – every time we would put her down she would go in the kitchen and cry and reach for her sippy cups. It almost broke my heart! Even Craig had a hard time dealing with it. When we would give her the ounces of fluid, she would practically inhale them, and just couldn’t understand why we wouldn’t give her more. She had a very confused look on her face – it’s like she was thinking “They’re supposed to love me, why are they torturing me?”. Suffice it to say – an awful two days for everyone in our household.

Tomorrow is supposed to be her last day of playschool – next week we’re switching her over to a nanny. Her class was planning a big party for her, but it looks like she won’t be able to go. But, at least she’ll get her first view of her new brother/sister at the same time we do!

Speaking of which, our appointment is at 9:15 a.m., so I should probably get some sleep…

  

Mar

We have our ultrasound tomorrow!!! We are *so* excited! I’m trying to probe my deep inner feelings to see what I *truly* think about what the baby will be. But – nothing; I just don’t have a good feel. Craig is absolutely certain it’s a boy, but I’m still not sure why (when asked, he says he alternates). I hope he’s not disappointed if it’s another girl!

Unfortunately, Sami is sick right now. She’s had a stomach virus all week. We had to miss our seder because she just wasn’t up to going. Tomorrow was also supposed to be her last day of daycare; I will be disappointed for her if she can’t go, because they’re having a little going-away party for her. Even if she is still sick, we might try to take her over for a little while in the afternoon, if she’s feeling up to it, so she can say goodbye.

  

Mar

I’ve been doing a fair bit of work on the web page, as you might’ve noticed, and also a lot of work getting our scrapbooks in order. Well, really getting the stuff that will *eventually* go in the scrapbooks in order. It is a big sense of accomplishment – almost like I have a prayer (albeit a small one) of actually pulling my life together. Who knows, maybe soon I’ll finish unpacking the last few boxes that are still lying around from when we moved! %-)

One of the things I’m most glad/relieved about, as well as proud of, is that I *finally* finished Sami’s birth story. I first wrote it down a few days after she was born, then kind of forgot about it in the aftermath of becoming a parent. I went back when she was six months old and added some details I had forgotten, and, again, essentially forgot about it. One of my friends recently asked if she could read it; plus, we are getting really close to knowing whether we’re having a boy or a girl this time. So it was very important to me to get it “done”. It’s pretty long, but I hope people will have a look at it. I have a different perspective on it now than I did right afterward, but I tried to be true both to how I felt at the time, and how I feel now. I realized in going back over it that a lot of Sami’s first moments are missing, because of the c-section – Craig went with her after she was born, but I couldn’t. So I have wrangled from him a promise to write his own version of the birth story. He says he will do it “soon”. %-)

I am very excited about the ultrasound on Friday. I wavered back and forth with wanting to know what we’re having, and not wanting to know. But, in the end, my curiosity will get the best of me. Maybe for our third child, I will want to be surprised, but this time we will find out. We’ve had an early ultrasound already, so we’ve seen the baby’s heart beating, etc. But it’s almost like it’s not realy until we know what we’re having. Of course, part of the reason is that Craig refuses to discuss names until after the ultrasound – somehow the experience of being pregnant and bonding with the baby becomes more intense for me once I know what to call the baby (at least that happened last time).

I’m just rambling now – time for sleep.

  

Jan

Okay, I did it – I updated the web page!!! I was under increased theat of violence from various factions if I didn’t, so…%-) Seriously, I have a better excuse than usual now – as most of you already know, WE’RE HAVING ANOTHER BABY!!! This of course means I have lost *all* chance of ever getting my life together and being on top of things like updating my web page, so don’t expect too much in the future!

Our due date is August 22nd, which of course means I will be weighing like two tons and it will be 100 degrees outside. Fun, fun! I need to punch Craig for having such bad timing! Seriously, we are both *very* excited. We both really wanted to have another baby fairly quickly, so they would be close in age. Craig thinks this baby will be a boy – I don’t think anything one way or the other yet. I’m only 10 weeks along right now, and I’ve been so sick and exhausted I haven’t really had enough energy to do much of anything, even think.

I *really* like my doctor this time, though. She is *MUCH* better than the doctor I had in Huntsville. She seems interested in me as a person, rather than being focused only on the baby. Of course, the baby *needs* focus, but it is nice to talk to someone who realizes that I still have needs, too, even though I’m pregnant. She has been really helpful with suggestions on how to be less ill, etc.

We were going to wait a little longer before telling people, but the sickness has been so bad that I had to tell a few people, since I needed an excuse for basically becoming an invalid. And, once you tell a few people, you really have to tell others…so, now the news is out. My second prenatal visit (the first one with the doctor) was yesterday; the doctor did an ultrasound, and we got to see the little heart beating. Somehow, that makes it so much more real, seeing it!

Okay, time for my afternoon nap…