The Most Extraordinary Ordinary Thing!

Dun-dun-duh-DA! Sheeeeeee's here!!!! Yay... Finally. And sorry for the delay at getting this announcement to you all. Zoe* Mae has officially entered the world and at full force I might add! She came in at 8lbs 8oz and 20" long. That's a whole lotta baby if you ask me. As you saw in one of my previous posts I was not excited about the idea of going past my due date and potentially having to be induced.... well, that's precisely what happened. Zoe had just gotten too comfortable in there and was officially served her walking papers May 22nd and I was induced at 7am the following day.

I was so nervous when I found out I had to be induced. I had envisioned going into labor for 9 whole months and induction was never a thought in my mind. It wasn't so bad though. The nurses were great and my mom and Mike were there taking care of me the whole time. I got an epidural around 11am when the contractions really started picking up speed and intensity and after pushing for an hour and a half (yes, an hour and a half... ugh) Zoe finally came out! And she is absolutely perfect!

We've had a steady stream of visitors since her arrival and she has been absolutely wonderful. She sleeps at night, eats well, cries minimal and picked up 7 of the 8oz she lost after she was born in less than 5 days! The doctor was so happy with her progress that I didn't even have to bring her back in for the normal 2nd week check up! Which makes me happy, because honestly, who wants to take their kids to the doctor when they aren't sick?

We were out and about 4 days after her arrival and haven't slowed down yet! I really want to be able to feel comfortable taking her out in public at an early age, so I won't feel confined at home. And so far it's been going really well. She cruises right along in her stroller not making a sound and only fusses when hungry... Keep your fingers crossed! We love her sooooo much and hope that you will too when you meet her!

*We changed the spelling from Zooey to Zoe... In case you were wondering...

Nesting! and Projects! and Due Dates! Oh, My!

So, I had my 39 week appointment on Thursday and everything is still right on schedule and things seem to be going well. My due date is tomorrow however so of course this is making me anxious. The doctor said that we would discuss inducing at the next appointment... if I have one. I'm trying not to be disappointed if she doesn't arrive this weekend, but am also really hoping that I don't have to be induced. I guess it isn't a bad thing if you are, but I just want her to come naturally.


"Nesting" is a term I have come to dislike very much, but am totally aware of why people call it that. I have seriously been running around the house like a crazy bird all day meddling here and there. Rolling my eyes at things that my former self could do but can't with a huge belly and an energy supply of an octogenarian. For example, gardening... I know, I know, don't worry about it right? Well, I can't help looking at the yard of our new house and wanting so badly to get out there and tear some weeds out, move some rocks, plant some flowers, rake holly leaves. It's ridiculous.

*Welcome to the jungle...*

*Feeble attempts at beautifying the joint*

I am also in the "process" of reupholstering a chair.... why you may ask well, feel free to call it part of my neurotic nesting but it's really just another creative project I must prove to myself I can do! I love the comfy chair, hate the dingy upholstery (no offense mom and dad, I know you guys were getting rid of it). I bought fun fabric from my budget supply store of choice, ah-hem, Ikea and have started the cushion. But every time I walk past the monster it stares at me like, "Go ahead! Try and reupholster me.". And I walk away defeated or plop down in it's comfiness and succumb to my mental lack of ability. My former self would never be so self-defeated by an inanimate object such as a chair, but as of right now everything seems to be defeating me. Typing this is giving me a burst of can-do spirit however, so we'll see how tonight goes...

*The Nasty Monster Chair*

*Soon to be new skin....keep your fingers crossed*

Last night I ventured out of the "nest" and into the world of people that know me, know when I'm due and know all kinds of info about how to get yourself in labor in order to reach that due date. I of course got plenty of advice on "things" I should do to speed up the process but of course we all know that most of that is crap and won't work anyway. I'll probably eat a bunch of spicy food, end up with indigestion and then be miserable until she arrives! Do walking lunges in the living room and just deplete the energy I could have used on my millions of projects! So, I'm trying not to think too hard about my due date. And I have been pulling myself away from the Internet all day, to stop reading every bit of information I can find, about every woman in the United States' experience with labor, birth, induction, etc. And believe me there is more information out there than you even want to know...

So, this is what I shall tell myself for the rest of the evening: "Self, you will not be disappointed if the baby does not arrive tomorrow. You will attempt to reupholster your chair. And self, step away from the Internet, it's not helping anything!" Ahhh.... much better.

To all the mamas: Happy Mother's Day!

*Drawing by Cody, whose life we celebrated this weekend*

It was a wonderful weekend, filled with wonderful friends and family. I got to hang out with some of my favorite moms, mine especially, and some of my friends that would prefer to leave motherhood up to the rest of us... for the time being that is. Hey to each her own, right?

*Corinne and I, she's smart and just wants to babysit*


Everyone always asks the same questions: "How do you feel?", "Tired of being pregnant?", "How much longer?", etc. etc. Funny thing is the answers always vary. You can't really tell someone how you are feeling when you are pregnant, because the answer is simply, well, pregnant. Unless you've been there it's hard to describe, and even then everyone is different so you can't always compare. Today I felt tired and cranky in the morning, mostly because I had such a fun day yesterday and had a hard time falling asleep when I got home... I guess I had one too many HI-Cs. Woo baby.

By the afternoon, my mother put me in a nice food induced comma (nothing pleases a mother more than to see her child stuffed and sleepy on a couch, especially when it's her doing) and now I'm wide awake again because of way too many iced-teas with my breakfast-lunch-dinner...

"Tired of being pregnant?" Well, yes and no. On one hand I'm looking out the window right now and thinking to myself "If I go into labor in this rain/wind storm tonight it's going to suck". And on the other hand I'm thinking "I can't wait any longer, bring on the baby! Bring on the storm!" or "Seriously, if I get any bigger, I'm going to burst!" and that of course, would be unpleasant.

This is the point where your pregnancy really turns into a waiting game. Possibly the most annoying thing about it. The anticipation alone is enough to drive you crazy. You want to make sure everything is just right, but then you think to yourself, well it doesn't really matter if everything is "perfect". You have no control over it anyway. I mean people have been doing this for a preeety long time, without the million options of baby bottles, onesies, lotions, breast pumps, cribs, the list goes on! And in way more primitive conditions sooo... I guess you just have to be patient.

And obviously the BEST moms are patient.... they wait patiently for their babies to grow, they wait patiently for them to learn to speak and then of course how to be quiet, they patiently await their childs' forgetfulness to call and patiently for their Mother's Day cards, etc. etc... And through all this patience, there they are, still loving you all the way. Even though you've worried them and so on. So here's to all the wonderful ladies out there that have taken on the patience to be a mom! And here's to Zooey... now hurry it up already!

Nursery Times...

Here are some of Zooey's friends anxiously awaiting her arrival. HA! Still getting things together, but so far so good...

What do you think of the shades...

I made the roman shades for her room. They actually make it very dark, even though in this picture it doesn't seem that way! I think she'll like all the colors and shapes. Everyone keeps asking what my "theme" is for the nursery, my reply: Ikea.

Proto-Zooey!!

So here she is at 21weeks! I decided to create this blog to let everyone know how the little one is progressing! By the movement in my belly I would say pretty well. She's a strong little bugger. Can't wait for you all to meet her.

And this is me taking a final farewell photo! I'm 39 weeks here. I must say it's been an enjoyable ride growing this little bean inside me. I've been very fortunate to have an "easy" pregnancy and can't wait to have this little girl in my arms... you know, cause it will be easier on my back. hehehe... I kid, I kid.