Post-Partum Blogging

I'm sure I don't need to say that blogging is not the easiest thing to do with a newborn. Right now Jonah and I are on the couch; he has a crusty eye, a snotty nose, and traces of his breakfast on his cheeks. I stink and am trying to decide on a good time to brave the shower. But, the important things are covered. Jonah has a full belly and is clothed in something other than PJs (although he's still swimming in everything except the cute sleepers his Grammy bought him).

Okay, he's crying. Blog over. Happy Monday, everyone!

Jonah Alexander is Here!

We get to go home today...on my birthday! Yay!

We've posted pics and our birth story on CaringBridge. Follow the link below!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

www.caringbridge.org/visit/babymelnik

It's Here!

I had my pre-admission appointment this morning. I gave my medical history for the 19th time, met with the anesthesiologist about the spinal I'll get tomorrow, and for the most part got all my questions answered. My blood pressure was, of course, through the roof, and the nurses wouldn't let me leave. They really wanted me to call John to come pick me up (even after laying down on that table thing again and getting it back down to normal). The nurse finally called my OB nurse, who promptly told her that I had hypertension, which is why I was having the baby tomorrow, and that I could go home. Thank you, Nurse Gail!

I've let myself cheat and in turn worn myself out today. I figure the last day of bedrest shouldn't really count, right? So the baby swing is set up, the humidifier is ready to go, the nursery is clean and the closet is cleaned out, the stroller and car seat are out, the Pack n' Play with bassinet is set up, everything is washed, and the hospital bag is packed.

Tomorrow I'll be getting up at 3:30 a.m. to get ready, grab last minute things for the bags, and head to the hospital at 5:00. Who am I kidding though? I'm going to get zero sleep tonight. My c-section is scheduled for 7:30, and as long as it doesn't get bumped, the baby should be here by 8:00! Strangely, I'm not nervous at all. Just ready to not be pregnant, meet our little guy, and have a normal life again!

We're supposed to have Wi-Fi in the hospital, and we set up a CaringBridge site though the hospital's website, so we hope to post pictures and such while we're in the hospital. My recovery will be a little longer since I'm having the surgery, but hopefully we'll be home by Tuesday (my St. Patty's Day Birthday!). I'll post pics on here too when I can.

Wish me luck! :0)

Tales From the Funny Farm: Installment Six

Crip

We had tons of chickens growing up, and a lot of the time they ran loose around the field. At one point we started having trouble with predators (opossums, skunks, coyotes, etc.), so Dad built a huge chicken coup, and we kept them locked up in there. They had roosts and boxes filled with hay to lay eggs in. I think the chickens really liked their coup.

Unfortunately, it didn't always keep all the predators out. One weekend we were going on a trip, and Dad was worried about something getting in the coup and eating the chickens, so he set up one of those "bear claw" traps in the coup.


When we came back at the end of the weekend, the trap didn't hold any predators hostage, but instead it had the leg of one of our chickens clamped down.

Now, very few of our chickens were friendly. Sure, they followed us around when it was feeding time, but it wasn't like you could walk up and pick one up or pet them or anything. However, when the trapped chicken saw us coming, I guess she figured we were going to help her, because she sat calmly while Dad opened the trap and freed her leg.

Surprisingly, her leg wasn't broken. It had a huge gash in it where the trap had closed though, so Dad decided to put some ointment on it and wrap the gash with that tape that comes in first aid kits. He wrapped it tight, and the chicken hopped off with just a limp.

A week or so later, we noticed something strange laying in the dirt of the chicken coup. We looked closer and soon saw the chicken, who was hopping around the coup on one leg. That's when we realized that she no longer had two feet. The thing we saw laying in the dirt was her foot. The gash had rotted under the tape, the circulation was cut off, and eventually the lower part of her leg and her foot just fell off.

The chicken didn't seem to be in any pain, and she was getting along fine on her stump of a leg. Surprisingly, she became pretty tame and was one of our favorite chickens. After her unfortunate event, we named her Crip. She lived for a long time and appeared to have a very happy life, despite her disability.

Last Appointment Before D-Day!

I had my last appointment at the doctor today. The non-stress test went well, and the doctor decided to go ahead and schedule a c-section for Saturday. I'm totally okay with the c-section, and I'm excited to just get in there and meet the baby! As long as we don't get bumped for an emergency, we should be parents by 9:00 a.m. on Saturday! Visitors are welcome on Sunday! We can't wait!

It's Okay!

I just wanted to update today, because I know yesterday's post was quite the downer.

We had small group at our house last night, so John was home a little bit earlier. We (as in he) actually grilled hot dogs for dinner and we scarfed it down before our friends came over. After small group, John surprised me with root beer floats. It was a nice little treat, and it was great to get to spend a little extra time with him.

Today was a good day too. A friend came over early with a delicious vanilla latte and a blueberry scone (so good!) from Panera, and we had a good chat. It was a much better way to start out the day. It was nearly lunch time when she left, so I made a sandwich and let the kitties out of the basement early so I'd have some company (yes, cat company!).

My goal today was to finish my thank you cards, but I ended up emailing several friends back and forth a large part of the day. I enjoyed that a lot, and it made the day go by fast. Tomorrow is doctor day, and then I only have three days left before the baby is here and bedrest is officially over!

I think Wednesday I'll get the cards done, Thursday I'll finish the letters I painted for the nursery, and Friday I'll make sure my bag is packed and everything is ready to go. Now that I have goals for each day, I think the week is going to go fast and Saturday will be here before we know it.

I'm also looking forward to TV tonight. I am a huge reality TV fan, and since The Bachelor is officially over, I have to find something else to fill my Monday night. Lucky for me, tonight is the premiere of Dancing With the Stars, and I'm really looking forward to it. I especially like the two-hour episodes, like tonight's. So I'm going to cuddle up with the cats, some ice cream, and the remote, and try not to think about tomorrow's appointment. I'm so nervous! Wish me luck!

Weekend of Lame

Ugh. Okay, I've tried not to complain, but today I just can't help it. This weekend was been the worst one so far. Not that it's been different from the rest, but it's just getting old. Weekends should be the best part of the week. I don't know why I feel they're so much worse, but I do.

Most of you know that John has been working extremely hard to get our other house finished and ready to put on the market by Delivery Day. He's doing a really good job. He works all day at the insurance company, and then he eats something quick (usually Ramen noodles), goes over to the other house (which is five minutes away from the office), changes into work clothes, and does some project (painting, cleaning, taping, etc.) until 9:30 or 10:00 that night. Then he comes home, puts his stuff down, showers, eats a snack, and goes to bed. The next morning he's up (before I am, of course), leaves, and does it all again. He's very determined to get the house done, and I think he's going to. I am proud of him.

But on my end, life is not the best. My first month or so of bedrest, I would sit here on the couch like I always do and wait all day until John got off work. He'd come home, we'd have dinner together, and then he'd work on the nursery or some other household chore, and if I was lucky we'd get to watch an episode of one of our favorite shows together. The days were long, but at least I had something to look forward to at the end of the day. I don't have that anymore.

I'm glad that John is working so hard. It's going to be so good for us to get the house sold, and I think it will sell quickly once it's finished. It will also be great to be done with it and to not have to worry about doing projects over there anymore. John is taking a week off when the baby is born (next Saturday!), and he'll get to spend all his time with us. I don't wish that he were doing things differently, because he's doing great things for our little family. I just wish that I weren't alone all the time.

Tales From the Funny Farm: Installment Five

Note: This one may be a little hard to believe, but trust me. It really did happen.

Lonely Nuisance

We had two huge, 250-pound sheep growing up. They were, of course, pets. The oldest one, who we named Baby because he cried all the time, was a Mother's Day gift for my mom. A few years later, we took Baby back to the place we got him from so he could be sheared. As we were waiting, Mom and Dad started talking to the owner of the farm. He pointed out a lone sheep and told my parents, "See that one right there? He's such a nuisance! And he's a little orphan." Well, when Mom heard this, she knew she couldn't leave him at the farm, so they came home with two sheep that day. Appropriately, we named this new sheep Nuisance.

Baby and Nuisance were the best of friends. They grazed out in the field all day long, bleating back and forth to each other. As the years went on, the sheep got older, and Baby had a hard time tolerating the hot Oklahoma summers. We knew he wouldn't be with us much longer. We were all sad when he passed, and I think Nuisance was too.

One warm day, several long months later, we were sitting around with the windows open, and I heard a cow in the yard. This wasn't an unusual thing, as we were surrounded by cow fields, and sometimes the cows got out. I heard the mooing and ran out the back door to chase the cow back to it's own field. But when I got outside, I couldn't see a cow anywhere. I figured it must've just been one next door that sounded closer than it was. As I was going back inside, I heard the mooing again. I turned around and searched the yard and field one more time.

My eyes rested on Nuisance, and I shook my head. Surely not. Then I saw it. Nuisance opened his mouth and mooed. I couldn't believe it. I ran back into the house and called for Mom to come outside with me. We ran back out to the back deck and stared at Nuisance as he mooed again. Poor Nuisance had been without hearing other sheep sounds for so long that he'd begun mimicking the cows around him.

I loved going to school the next day and telling my friends this story. Not many people believed me, but I thought having a mooing sheep was the coolest thing ever.

One More to Go!

Well, I was supposed to have my last doctor's appointment today, but it didn't go so well, so I'll be back again for one last exam next Tuesday. I'm officially being induced next Saturday morning, so 11 days to go!

My tests went well. I had a few Braxton Hicks contractions on the NST monitor today, but Baby's heart rate was fine during them. His amniotic fluid looked good, although he's looking quite squished up in there and definitely running out of room. It's hard to get ultrasound pictures now, but we got a great one of his foot. :)

I had one of those end-of-pregnancy exams I've talked about in previous posts, and it was just too painful, so next week John will be driving me to the doctor, as I will be under the influence of strong pain meds and a tranquilizer. Ah yes, induction is going to be interesting. At least I know that a lovely epidural is waiting for me and an even lovelier baby at the end.