I'm sorry. Really. I swear I'm not breaking up with you. I'm just cheating on you. But, I can explain...
See, she's so cute. And I just want to spend all my time playing with her. I'll be back, though. Soon. I promise.
Reality: part-time
This morning Phee and I head to work for the first time. I'm not sure about her, but I'm certainly not ready for it. Luckily we're only working part-time for a few weeks so we can ease into it. We went last night to set a few things up. And just now, Phee woke up right before my alarm went off. At least we're in sync!
Wish us luck! It's going to be a hectic day to say the least.
Back to the library
This is my last semester of grad school. All I have to do is my practicum and my portfolio and I'm finished!! I met with my practicum site supervisor last week and today I start working on my project. I'm going to be doing collection development work and I'm quite excited about it. Primarily I'll be weeding different sections of the youth nonfiction collection at the main library (where I was working before as an intern). It will be great to have this experience when I get a job because I've only seen it on paper so far. It can be a difficult process so the experience will be beneficial down the road. And hopefully that road leads to a job here when the city lifts the hiring freeze!
Whew! Time flies...
I can't believe January is half over already. Mom just left after her second visit. Dad comes later this week. My semester starts tomorrow. My last semester! I meet with someone at the library tomorrow and will hopefully be finalizing my project for this semester and putting together a work schedule. I have to work around my job and Doug's schedule so it might be a little tricky. Hopefully the library will be just as wonderful as always and they'll be able to work with me on a flexible schedule.
In baby news, Phee had her first bottle this weekend. Doug fed her and she gulped it down with no problem. That was a great improvement over last week's feedings when we couldn't get through a feeding without Phee screaming. Turns out she has acid reflux. She had medicine which has helped greatly. I didn't realize that infants could get meds like that. I was surprised, but quite grateful. She still has the symptoms, but they don't bother her so much.
Doug is back to work now. It's odd not to have him home all day. We miss him. It's a bit depressing because it means I'll be going back to work myself shortly. I'm considering working out a schedule of partial work weeks to extend my time at home a little bit. Hopefully that works out. I'd rather not work at all, but it just isn't possible right now. Phee will be going to work with me though so I guess it isn't all bad. It'll take some manuvering and adjusting to make it work but since it's a small office and I have my own office I don't see why it won't work out. Mom and I just got some bigger clothes out for Phee and found some cute outfits she can wear to work with me. And she got some great little shoes for Christmas, too! She'll be quite a hit with all the ladies at work!
Alone again
We have been a prime vacation destination for the last month. It's been quite fun to see everyone. My mom was here for 2 1/2 weeks before and after Phee was born. One of my brothers popped down for a quick 36 hour visit. Then, all of Doug's family came for Christmas. My other brother and my sister just left after a visit.
Next week, mom is coming back. And the week after my dad is coming down. We're party central!
Christmas was fantastic. We had a great time with Doug's family. The day after, we all dressed up and had family pictures done just like we did last year with my family. We haven't seen the pictures yet, but it certainly seemed that some great pictures were being taken. Phee was a doll and slept through the whole photo shoot. She was awfully cute, though, and it was the first day she wore actual pants.
In other news, it seems that we're finally getting some sort of schedule down. Well, perhaps not really a schedule. I guess I should say that we're figuring out how to operate normally with an infant in the house (as normal as that can be). We have mastered getting laundry done and the kitchen cleaned up while juggling Phee. We have also mastered frantic cleaning, picking up and showering while she's napping. We're still working on meals.
Ophelia Jane Bertha 8 lb, 15 oz 21 1/4 in 6:13 pm 12/7/09
I never posted any pictures or anything after Phee was born. It was a little crazy and I'm still not on the computer very much. I do everything on my phone for the most part, especially since I can use the phone with one hand while she's nursing.
Short version- labor lasted 19 hours. Contractions started the night before I was supposed to be induced. It was a very long day. I lasted 13 hours and then had to give in and get an epidural. Having only slept an hour the night before, I was exhausted and couldn't do any more. Turns out, by the time I got the epidural I was already at 9 1/2 cm. So, I did most of it naturally.
Phee is just perfect. She eats like crazy and is getting quite big. She sleeps pretty well at night, generally for a couple 3 hour stretches, sometimes longer. She's more alert every day and she's smiling for real now.
December certainly flew by! I've neglected the blog in favor of the baby and life lately. I'm going to try to get back into posting more regularly again as soon as I can.
Our holidays were fantastic. Doug's family was with us for Christmas and we all had a really wonderful time together. More of my family comes this week and next. Everyone just loves little Phee. And really, what's not to love?!
I hope 2009 ended with a bang for you all. Here's to a happy 2010!
Update
Well we are still waiting. I did get an epidural after 13 hours though and I'm at 9.5 cm and waiting. All is going well and the baby is fine. And I'm feeling much better now. Hope to have a baby and pics in the next couple hours!!
At the hospital!
Well Little Miss decided that she'd like to come on her own after all. Contractions started around 11:45 pm and by about 2:30 am they were around 3 minutes apart. We got to the hospital at 3:00 am and we're doing pretty well so far. So much for the induction!! We'll keep you updated. Keep checking the Twitter feed over there on the left.
Still waiting...
Had our last appointment this morning. Nothing's changed, yet again. They hooked me up and did the fetal monitoring for about 20 minutes this morning. The baby is totally healthy and clearly very comfy in there. So, we're scheduled for an induction at 6:00 am Monday morning. Unless she decides to come on her own before then. I doubt it though, the way things have gone so far. We'll see, though.
Mom was able to make arrangements to stay through next weekend. We've been having great fun playing games, running errands, finishing up the nursery and hanging out. She's read about 6 books already, too, I think. We're going back to the library tomorrow. So, we get mom for another week and a half which is quite lovely.
Hope you're all having a very happy, fun Thanksgiving day. We're not cooking, but we have been invited to have dinner with our friends Ken and Nadia and their family. It's fun- we end up trading Thanksgiving back and forth with them depending on who has family in town and who's traveling. And Ken fries their turkey which is quite tasty!
Mom is flying in this evening. We ended up telling her to just take the flight since she already had the ticket. I'd hate for her to cancel the ticket and then for us to end up at the hospital at 7 tomorrow night when she would have been here anyway. Besides, Doug and I both feel like the baby is coming soon. (Quite frankly, I'm writing this Wednesday night so for all I know, I'll be at the hospital already when it posts.)
So, happy Thanksgiving to you all. I hope you're having a really wonderful holiday with your families and friends. Enjoy those turkeys and all that pie!
Due in 3 days
Another appointment late this morning. Not much has changed. Doctor says everything is in place, everything is ready, we're just waiting for Little Miss to decide that she's ready. She really doesn't see me going much past my due date at all. Quite frankly she sounded quite surprised that nothing had happened yet.
But, just in case, we're scheduled for an induction on December 7. If we go much past that date, I have a better chance of needing a c-section which I really do not want.
Everything else is great, though. Still feeling good, although huge. Sleeping fairly well which is nice. It's amazing what not having to go to work will do for your disposition.
Hope everyone is having fun getting ready for Thanksgiving! If Little Miss decides to come tonight/tomorrow, we'll get to come home on Thanksgiving. Fingers crossed!
In other news, today is Doug's last day from work. And, he should be home any minute now which is quite lovely. Gotta love those training days!
Thanksgiving TV specials
Just found a list of Thanksgiving/Christmas specials on TV beginning today and running through the end of the month. Check it out! I'm sure there's something in there for you. Some are special episodes of regular TV shows, some are marathons (like SyFy's Bond marathon on Thanksgiving Day!), some are just weird.
Sadly, with no cable, I won't be watching hardly any of these. Although, after perusing the list, most of it looks weird and not necessarily holiday themed. I can wait for December. When I find a list of Christmas shows, I'll post it for you.
Nursery!
We had another appointment today. Nothing's changed. We're just waiting for Little Miss to decide she's ready to come meet us.
Any day is fine with me at this point.
We worked on the nursery when we got home this afternoon. We're having the house cleaned tomorrow so we had to get all the extra stuff off the floor in that room. The crib is going to go where the desk is when we move it back into the nursery from our room in a few months. And the swing will move around the house. Eventually Pam, who helped me sew the blanket and did the bumper, is going to recover the chair cushions for me. We ran out of time (and I haven't picked up the fabric yet anyway). We'll also eventually get around to decorating the room, too. We have some decals for the walls, we just haven't put them up yet. Nor have we gotten to the show poster project. Soon!
Last day of work!
This is it. I have 8 hours to get through and then I am on vacation maternity leave.
I've been training someone since last Thursday. I have written out directions for weeks, trying to cover every major thing I do. I have worked ahead for 2 months to get things finished and ready to go so that there would be less work for a replacement to do. It will be interesting to hear how the next 12 weeks play out in the office.
8 hours!
Kim
Just had to share these pics. You may have seen Kim, Doug's sister, in the shower pictures. She has really, really long curly hair. Super long, gorgeous hair.
We got an email from her yesterday with these pictures. She cut it! A lot of it- 18 inches! How crazy is that?! But, it looks really fantastic. Kim is beautiful anyway and this haircut just looks amazing on her. I can't wait to see her at Christmas!
