Snow Day

Don't let the picture fool you. Rosalie did not have a lot of fun in the snow today; said she was scared. She does NOT get that from her father.

Looks Like Her Father

Look at those Anderson features! So beautiful :)

Home with Eloise

We were discharged a bit earlier than expected from the hospital today- arriving home at 4:30pm. This is a reflection of how well Eloise and I are doing! My lab work shows no signs of preeclampsia and my blood pressure remains within normal ranges. Eloise is eating and pooping as she should be :)

It feels very overwhelming to care for both Eloise and Rosalie right now, especially since Rosalie has a terrible cold and is, quite frankly, a mucous factory. We are very thankful to have the grandparents still here to help us get situated.

Other than Rosalie's cold, we are both in shock as to just how BIG Rosalie has gotten. We are certain she has grown over the past 3 days when we were in the hospital, but we both feel like we are looking at a 5 year old! I don't understand how the same clothes that fit her before, still fit her! Even her teeth seem bigger to me! My sister said she experienced this same phenomena with each of her children as well, so at least we aren't too crazy.

Rosalie has been successfully asleep since 6:30, and now it is our turn to get some sleep before Eloise wakes for the next feeding.

"Baby Eloise"

Hi Grandpa!

Q: What's Strawn?

A: The most awesome middle name in the world!
Strawn is Mary's Father's Mother's maiden name.

Our second choice was Cooper. The name of my Cousin's Wife's Childhood Neighbor's car.

After birth

Here's a photo taken a moment after Mary held Eloise for the very first time.

Our Little Peach

Eloise's skin is as soft as peaches. She is getting her first real sleep after her second nursing (!!), and I just had to share another photo.

And we have latch!

It took several tries, but Eloise just nursed for the first time for about 5 minutes! I could see the colustrom coming out, so hopefully that bit of super-charged milk will help hydrate her so we can all get a little bit of shut-eye.

A little more info :)

She weighs 5 lb 12 oz and is 18.5 long. She arrived very quickly and we are both doing great!

It's a....

...Girl! Eloise Strawn Anderson arrived at 7:47pm. Mother is eating Jimmy Johns (first meal of the day other than a little jello and saltines) and Eloise is getting her first bath.

Mary will post the complete story soon.

H 2 Uh Oh!

Mary's water has been broken for an hour or so. In a few minutes, they'll check her progress and determine if pitosin is necessary.

Will we have a Jan 5 baby?

Second Cutest Thing...

Second only to the pending picture of our newborn joy, once he or she decides to join our world, is this picture we just received. (Sawyer is the adorable 1 year old of our friends Amanda and Ryan).

24 hours later

We know you're sitting at your browsers hitting the refresh button, so here is the latest.

I was at 4 cm at 5:30 and my doctor then broke my water. There is no going back now! Contractions are regular, and we're thinking I won't need pitocin at this point.

Because Rob's lunch post was possibly the most entertaining update all day, we thought you should know he got a salad from the cafeteria for dinner. It was the most thoughtful thing he could have done- selecting a food I would have no desire to eat (I had jello for breakfast and 8 saltines for lunch).

Also, Rosalie has a fever and cold, so we have made an appointment for her to see the doctor tomorrow. She is under the excellent care of Mimi, Muvey, and Grandpa, but we hope this doesn't derail her plans to meet the baby.

Speaking of excellent care (sarcasm), I just had a nurse NOT know why the IV was beeping. Rob solved the big mystery once he suggested the battery was low. He was right, and his prize is a baby- soon!

Family of Three

This is what the Anderson Family looked like yesterday. Can't wait to post a picture tomorrow!

Mary's contractions have started, are becoming regular, and are a little painful. On the "rate your pain" scale (1-10, 1 being none), she's saying some are 7s. The nurse is prepping an epidural.

What a Difference a WALK Makes

I paced for a few minutes and took a quick shower before the medicine arrived. Best news of the day- when the nurse deposited the cytotec pill, the baby had already surfaced more and she could touch the baby's head! This was a huge contrast to the cervical check just 30 min earlier when I was extremely uncomfortable while the doctor checked my status. Some of you may commiserate that when the cervix is far back, it hurts when practioners try to reach it. I believe the walk made all the difference!

The contractions are getting more intense too...

In other news... (Rob)

... I had lunch at that new burrito place in Urbana by Five Points called Panchero's. It's a franchise and the burritos are like Chipotle with three differences:
1) They make your tortilla in front of you. They use a press to flatten a ball of dough into a circle. Then, they warm it on the grill.
2) When they've placed all the ingredients in your burrito, they stir it up so each bite is equal.
3) No lettuce. I missed the crunch.
I got spicy salsa and added jalepenos. I'm glad I'm not the one has to push soon!

Not much progress

Clearly this baby knows it should have had another ~3 weeks in utero.* I'm just 1-2 cm dilated and will shortly receive a second dose of cytotec. I was approved to do some pacing around so hopefully gravity can help a little bit. The doctor will be returning around 5 and maybe by then I'll be having stronger contractions and he can break my water at that time. So the plan is...
Pace for about 5 more minutes.
Have cytotec administered (it is a pill that is deposited in my cervix).
Lay in prone position while cytotec dissolves and to monitor baby.
Pace more.
Doctor checks again.
It will soon be 24 hours in this room. I am hungry and tired, but it is going to be ok.

*When this baby is older, it's going to think Rosalie has always been our favorite since she got an extra three weeks in the womb. Nothing a trip to Disney can't fix, I'm sure.

Free Diaper Bag

As many of you know, nursing Rosalie has been one of my greatest joys. We enjoyed nursing together until my recent bed rest orders. Preeclampsia can result in premature labor, so the nipple stimulation was not worth the risk. She was only nursing at bedtime and some mornings for just a few minutes in recent months, so she had very limited milk consumption and was virtually weaned anyway. I would not consider her fully-weaned yet, though, because even in recent days she would ask for "mama milk" when she was tired. We would have "mama cuddles" instead and she would snuggle up on my lap. I have been reading a book on tandem nursing, and that may be a reality in our household in a few days.
I never envisioned that I would nurse a toddler who could "ask for it," but that is the path I chose. I am well aware of the stereotype- i.e. Maggie Gyllenhaal's character in the movie Away We Go. Weaning is a process that I decided I wanted to be on Rosalie's terms, and it is where my heart led me.
While I am clearly a proponent of breastfeeding, I have made a point to try to not to push my preference on others. I know that breastfeeding does require a deep support network, and I will provide support to any nursing friends that may need it. I will also openly discuss my experience with expectant mothers, because I had such a pleasant one (don't get me wrong- there were many struggles, especially in the first 8 weeks). This is a fine line amidst a sensitive topic, and I hope I have not offended anyone along the way.
***
The hospital gives a free diaper bag to mothers: one for formula-fed babies and a different one for breast-fed babies. They are currently out-of-stock for the breastfeeding bag, and we have so many bags already (thanks to Thirty-One), so we respectfully declined the formula-fed bag. The nurse took a defensive stance, saying "I am not trying to push formula on you, but I want to offer you the free bag at least." I am guessing some have taken offense to the offer in the past. To continue the snobbery, we also turned down the Johnson & Johnson sample, as we use other less-toxic brands in our household :)

The doctor should be here soon to determine next steps!

Downtime

We have more "downtime" now before anything drastically changes, hence the frequency of posts. I am trying to relax through the noise of renovation and Rob typing away on his laptop. He is trying to finalize the website for our cottage.

My current nurse is even using this time to prep the baby warmer/bassinet that is in our room. She said, "Since we know a baby is coming, I can get prepared just in case things happen quickly!" We can hope!

I'm hoping that relaxing will allow my contractions to be more productive and bring on active labor faster. I will try to visualize my cervix relaxing as well, but I can only really visualize cartoon images of a cervix like I've seen in books. Ha ha.

Missing Rosalie

Rosalie is in good hands with her grandma Mimi while we're at the hospital. We are keeping her regular schedule, so she is at her school this morning. About 20 minutes after checking in last night, we already missed her. She brings so much joy to our lives, and here we are about to double it.

Do you think this pebble wall will ease the pain of contractions? I have started having a few manageable ones, and my doctor will be returning at noon to check my progress. He is likely to break my water at that time as well. Starting pitocin will depend on where things are at. I'm encouraged!

Wouldn't it be nice?

The maternity ward at our hospital is newly renovated, including this beautiful tub and a glowing pebble wall. I can enjoy the ambiance of the pebble wall (I'll have to upload that photo separately), but the complications this pregnancy have not afforded me the opportunity for a good soak, let alone a good walk around the ward to get things moving faster. Maybe next time!?!?

Baby Day? Maybe?

Here is a synopsis of what is going on- mostly to log the delivery journey...

After three weeks and three days of bed rest, Rob and I checked into the hospital last night (Wednesday) to start the induction process. Wednesday marked the 37 week milestone of reaching "full-term." After much discussion with my doctor, it was determined it was best to induce now, despite my preeclampsia remaining mild.

At 6pm last night, cervidil was administered in an attempt to ripen my "unfavorable" cervix. I slept considerably well thanks to some ambien, and Rob slept great. Just as if we were at home! :)

My cervix was checked again this morning, and there was noticeable progress, but not enough to start pitocin. Now a drug call cytotec has been administered and I'm feeling hopeful as the cramping has gotten a bit more intense.

In the delivery room next door, we can hear the wail of a newborn. The baby sounds like a seagull, but makes us both excited to hear our own baby's cry.

Maybe today!