Dominic Vincent is here!!!!

Did that get everyone’s attention? Actually Dominic is our new nephew. He was born yesterday. Everyone is doing well. My SIL had a pretty good labor and was doing great yesterday. We went to see the little guy yesterday afternoon. He is absolutely adorable. Rich told my SIL & BIL that he really was a cute baby and he didn’t have to lie about it!! Rich is the epitome of good manners and timing huh? He has a full head of black hair and my BIL’s little nose. We have some pics at home of him and of us holding him. I will try to get them off the computer soon. It was such an awesome feeling. We want our little guy so bad now too. Dominic’s birth was the last major thing that needed to happen before our little Cletus arrived.

So ummm, I guess I am next then? I can’t even believe that April is here tomorrow. It seems like it was so long ago that this whole thing started and now we are at the end of the road.

The end is near?

I think physically I am so ready to be done. We are getting so excited to meet our little guy!!! I am having more contractions everyday. They aren’t getting any more consistent, but they are getting a little more painful. It is also a little more uncomfortable to get around as well. I have to have help to get up out of a lot of chairs or couches. I also can no longer wear tied shoes. Slip on shoes are my friends now. I also gave up on my wedding rings a few weeks ago. Getting in and out of bed at night is getting to be a comical event as well. Luckily gravity just keeps me rolling in the direction of my big belly!!

I also think that morning sickness is rearing its ugly head again. I actually had to jump out of the truck the other morning to throw up on the side of the road. Rich & I were both shocked at how fast I can still move and get out of the big truck when I have to. I didn’t want to throw up all over the truck or myself so I guess I just did what was instinct.

Birthing classes are over now. One more thing down before the big day!! I am feeling mostly prepared for the labor part now. We need to pack our bags soon. We have almost everything we need together, we just need to pack it. I am having trouble finding a cute outfit to bring him home in. I need to look at some of the kid’s stores I think. None of the regular stores have anything we like.

Cletus still likes to give me a scare every so often. He usually is very active in the afternoons/evenings. Well he has been having some lazy days lately and that is making me nervous. I have been pulling the Doppler out a lot more lately. Of course as soon as I do that he starts kicking like crazy. Also usually the day after a lazy day, he is moving and pushing all day.

I am starting to wrap things up at work just in case I do go early. I am starting to do some training this week and writing up procedures for those taking over while I am gone. I wish I could take off some time before hand, but it just isn’t feasible if I want as much time as possible with him after he gets here.

I hope everyone had a nice Easter. Ours was ok with the usual family running around. I will be glad when that slows down I hope.

Good News

Does anybody remember the game Heads up, 7 up from elementary school? We played it when we had indoor recess, but I don’t remember exactly how it goes. Anyway we couldn’t play that anyway because Cletus is head down!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!! I was so excited. I had my favorite ultrasound tech yesterday again. She has done the last three and she is just so nice and funny. When she said the head was down and I said yes!!!! Really loud and she said well I guess you are excited for that? No version for me.

Cletus is very obviously still a boy which is good since I have started washing up his stuff. He is also practicing breathing. We saw his chest rising and falling so he is practicing breathing the fluid. This means his lungs are mature. His head is measuring 3 weeks ahead, but she had a hard time getting a good measurement. At this point it is really hard to get a good measurement and everything is a guess. This also means he could be making an appearance at any time. So that means we need to kick it into high gear and get things ready.

We are going to put the car seat in this weekend and probably start getting the bags packed. We still have some more organizing/cleaning to do, but we really have been working on that so we don’t have too much left. I hope to get it done soon so we can relax some before he gets here.

Rich & I went to the Blue Jackets game as a last sort of big event before Cletus gets here last Sunday. We had a ton of fun. Cletus loved it and was active the whole first period. We got some pictures that maybe I can get Rich to get off the camera and post this weekend. I was disappointed I didn’t get on TV or anything, but we still had a blast there. And they won which was great too. The only thing that would have made it perfect was a fight!!

I think Rich & I are finally coming to the realization that Cletus is going to be here soon. I think the ultrasound yesterday really brought things home for both of us. I feel like I still didn’t know if this was really going to work out, even now. I think Rich may be starting to worry a little bit about him coming soon. Last night I had a few contractions that were a little too close together for him, so he made me sit down. It was really cute; Rich told me “Those are too close together, sit down”. Then I was cleaning the clothes off the glider to sit down and that wasn’t fast enough for him. I also have been a cleaning/nesting machine the past few days which they told us can happen a couple weeks before the birth. I have been going longer than Rich after work now with getting things organized.

I am getting so excited to meet our little guy!!! I can’t wait to see what he looks like. 37 weeks today so full term. Yeah!

As I get bigger, am I getting crazier?

I really think that I am. I had a Dr Appt and NST again yesterday. I also had the Group B strep test done. Cletus is still chugging along doing fine. I am having BH contractions but they aren’t painful normally and not regular at all. So anyway Dr. H says he is going to check me as well. Ok fine since you’re already down there. Well I wasn’t “prepared” for the checking. He was pretty far up there and I made a whoa sound. Dr. H starts cracking up laughing. He said he never had a pt almost yodel during the cer.vix check. We both are dying laughing by then. He tells me he is so glad to have a pt like me. I tell him I like to make it interesting otherwise it would be boring and mundane. Plus this time it was just what happened. He is so funny. I really hope he gets to deliver Cletus. Dr. H knows about Cletus’ nickname now, but thought that was going to be his real name. He seemed a little worried about that. He said he delivered a Cletus a couple years ago.

So anyway I go out to the receptionist to schedule my next appt. She asks me about Yodeling lessons. I was like what? She said Dr. H told her to ask me about yodeling lessons. So I tell her why he said that. She apologized and said if she would’ve known what the reason was she wouldn’t have asked. She said he was in rare form that day and they needed to watch him.

Next week is the U/S to check and see if he is head down or breech. If he is still breech Dr. H recommended the version to try and turn him from the outside. If that doesn’t work then we will have to schedule a c-section. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but it might. So everyone give me some head down flipping vibes for my stubborn boy Cletus.

The furniture is finally all unpacked and in the room. Both of us are in love with the furniture and the glider especially. It is awesome. I sat in there last night to go thru some baby stuff. I told Rich it actually looks like a baby’s room now. The rest of the house still needs some work, but slowly we are getting everything organized and ready to go for Cletus.

I am offensive to some

We started birthing classes last week. Yesterday was the second one. We have not had the instructor we are supposed to at all. Both nights have been different instructors. First night was boring. Last night I was hoping for better. Part of it was and part of it wasn’t. The first part was blah. I can read myself. Then we took a break and we could try out birthing balls and the aromatherapy stuff they had there. I went up to smell the stuff and made a comment to Rich and one of the other fathers there overheard it. He proceeds to tell it to the rest of the class.

For some background, there is a town close to us that is a cool place, but has a lot of alternative life styles there. The natural and herbal life is something that is highly promoted there. When you go into stores there it smells like a lot of herbs, the legal kind, which people like to use. I have nothing against this and I use them sometimes as well.

So I told Rich that it smelled like this town. The other dad told that out loud to the rest of the class. One of the other girls there got offended and said their house didn’t smell like that. I was a little embarrassed. Some of the others thought it was funny at least. Oh well, it was just supposed to be for Rich’s ears only but no control over that one.

The rest of the class was really nice. We practiced coping techniques and massage techniques. Yeah baby!!! That is what I was waiting for. It was so nice that when we practiced the pain of contractions with ice it didn’t even bother me. I was able to concentrate on what Rich was doing which was awesome. I am feeling more comfortable with the labor part now. I am just hoping I get to that point.

Last night was very eye opening and surreal. I almost lost it several times because it was just amazing to be there practicing for Cletus’ birth. It was also very nice to just relax and be with Rich without worrying about doing anything to prepare for the baby or have dogs interrupt our time together. We both agreed that part was worth it. The bean bags for two were so nice to relax in. We want one for at home now. It was also good to see all the different ways to cope and discuss what I want and don’t want. I think they aren’t going to know what to do with us since I think we function differently than most people.

I got some not so great news regarding my maternity leave today. I am too emotional to write about it now, but I am very sad that my plan isn’t going to work out the way I had hoped.

Will Cletus see snow?

A blizzard in March?! I mean, I remember having snow on the ground at Easter a couple of times when I was a kid, but not a blizzard. Anyway, I am not suggesting that I think it will snow the second week of April, but rather that piles of snow might still be around. In particular, the pile of snow that is next to my driveway, coined the Brrrrr-lin Wall. At first it was just called the wall. Then it started to get big so I called it the great wall. But by the time I finished I was getting cold so now it is called the Brrrr-lin Wall. Measuring 21 feet long by 10 feet deep at the base and reaching 7 feet in height, I think it will be around for a while. The question is, will the wall melt first, or will Cletus be born first?

Baby Shower Done!

The shower is over and I am so overwhelmed with the generosity of everyone. I was shocked at how much we received. I do not like to be the center of attention so that was very hard for me. I hope I did ok and that everyone had some fun. We threw out one of the games at the last minute because I felt everyone was gamed out. It was very hectic before getting everything set up because they told me that the room was taken and that people were already decorating. Turns out there was another baby shower that day and they got us confused. I was about ready to throw a pregnancy hormone fit at the front desk.

I am sorry if you were there and I didn’t get to spend anytime with you. There was some drama with my mom that day. I don’t know what was up her butt that day, but she was just pissed at the world. We don’t have very many pictures of her smiling and she wouldn’t socialize with anyone. Unfortunately we don’t speak to any of my relatives so none of them were there. That made it hard for me because I could see it and it just was disappointing. Rich said he saw her afterwards ranting and raving about it.

Anyway, kudos to Rich for stepping in that day. He did everything I asked without complaint. It was great to have him up front to direct people (when he wasn’t distracted by trying to get a drink) and for taking some pictures for me. I know a baby shower isn’t fun for guys but I truly appreciate him being there. Get your tools ready babe; we have a lot of stuff to put together now!!

We got the crib put together on Saturday night. It is gorgeous!!! Rich keeps talking about how much he loves Cletus’ furniture. It is very nice. We also got the armoire put up Sunday after the shower. I have done 2 loads of baby clothes and they are ready to be put away in there. We still have the changing table and glider to get set up but it really is starting to come together.