Benjamin Says Hi

Benjamin was wide awake and happy last night so we thought we'd try our hand at a video. This is the first (intentional) video we've ever done with our camera and it's very...unpolished, but still really cute. Enjoy!

Benjamin Michael Mecham has Arrived!

Wednesday, the 20th I went in for my scheduled amniocentesis and Benjamin passed! His lungs were mature and he was ready to be born. We went straight to the hospital and I got some medicine to prepare my body to start contractions, but my doctor didn't expect any kind of progress until the next morning. After 5 hours I was dilated to a 3 and I was ready for my epidural, which went a lot better than I thought it would. An hour later I was at a 5 and I was pretty excited for how quickly labor was progressing. I started feeling a lot of pressure so after 45 minutes I called my nurse who told me I was at a 9! Unfortunately I was at a 9 for 2 hours. During this time my epidural stopped working above my hips. My anesthesiologist, who was wonderful, couldn't seem to come up with a combination of drugs to take away the feeling in my back so for the last 3 or 4 hours of labor I felt every contraction in my back and belly. At 10 centimeters my doctor came in and told me I could either push for 2 hours or he could use forceps and have him out in 5 minutes. I took the fast way out and after 3 pushes Benjamin was here! He was perfect and he had a really cute high-pitched cry. It took about 15 minutes before I could hold him so Dennis stayed with Benjamin and he got to hold him first. When I finally got to hold Benjamin, he kept looking back at Dennis. Needless to say I was a little jealous, but happy that Benjamin loves his daddy. Benjamin was born at 6:47 am on Thursday, May 21st. He weighed 7 lbs, 9 oz. and was 19 1/2 inches long. He is such a sweet baby and he's very content. He loves to look at mom and dad and likes to be held close. We are so happy to have him with us.

9 Months - Almost There!

These are my 9-month pictures (I know I never took 8-month pictures). These are probably the last pictures that will be taken before the big event. I managed to get through the whole pregnancy without getting stretch marks, but that is entirely because of genetics/my skin type. I am so grateful for all that Dennis has done to help me and also for everything that my family and friends have done to support me through this pregnancy. Benjamin thanks you too. I will update you all as much as I can through the next week and I hope you will keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

Benjamin's Room

Last weekend (before I found out I'd need the nursery done quickly) I got Benjamin's room all ready for him. I sorted the clothes by size, assembled all the baby gear, with some help from Dennis, and got everything generally organized. The results:

This is a view from the doorway.

A close-up of the back wall/window.

The rocking chair where Benjamin will be rocked for hours and hours by mom and other people who love him. Also, the basket which holds all the books he has so far for a bedtime reading.

Stroller, Bouncer, and Swing. These will obviously not always be in his room, but I wanted to include them in the pictures to show off how cute they are!

A close-up of Benjamin's stroller and car seat. I love the cute jungle print!

Benjamin's bouncer and swing. The swing works with his carseat so I just put the carseat on the frame and it will swing him while he's in his carseat. This swing was 1/2 the price of every other swing we looked at and I really like the idea!

Benjamin's state-of-the-art closet complete with tupperware drawers for a dresser and a curtain for a closet door. I'm sure Ben won't care though.

Benjamin's crib with the crib set.

Benjamin's crib next to the bassinette he'll be using. The bassinette is really special because it's an antique. It's been used by Benjamin's great-grandpa Ostler, his grandpa Ostler, and his mom.

And here's all the boxes and garbage we had to get rid of when we were through!

It was a long project, but once the room was finished I felt a lot better and a lot more ready to have Benjamin. It won't be long now until he's here to personally enjoy all the wonderful things people have given him. Thank you to all of you who have given us what we need to take care of our sweet baby boy! *Don't worry - I'm sending thank you cards after he's here so I can include a picture.*

Not one big post

I had originally planned to post a lot of information and pictures on one big post, but I still need to download the pictures of Benjamin's completed room and my ever-growing belly from my camera so for now I only have Benjamin's latest ultrasound pictures. Both are profile shots and the 2nd one has his little fist in it. So very sweet.

I went in for my appointment on Monday and the doctor said that they are going to do an amniocentesis on Wednesday. An amniocentesis involves the doctor drawing a bit of amniotic fluid (through a needle inserted in my stomach) and they will analyze the fluid to see if Benjamin's lungs are mature yet. I will get the results in about 1/2 hour. If his lungs are mature, I will be induced shortly thereafter. I was quite surprised to hear that in a week and a half I could be having a baby! It always seemed so far away and now I am thinking of all the things I need to get done. I told Dennis I would love to have a few days off of work to get things all set up and ready, at which point I promptly got the flu. I had two days off of work, but my biggest accomplishments were keeping down fluids and napping a lot. I am exhausted from the flu and now I feel even more behind in getting things ready. I guess even if I had everything ready I would still find more to do so I should just relax and let other people (like my mom) worry about it when they come to help with the baby. This has been a very busy week and I am excited for (hopefully) my last weekend without a baby.

Getting Chubby...

I realize I'M getting chubby (or just more pregnant), but apparently Benjamin is also beefing up. I had a doctors appointment today and they somehow determined that he weighs 4 pounds 13 ounces! He is in the 66% range for his age, which is still pretty good for the baby of a diabetic. He's supposed to gain about 1/2 pound a week until he's born, so my doctor told me that at 37 weeks if the baby's lungs are mature they will induce me either that day or the next, if I would like. If I've not all ready begun to dialate it may be more difficult to get things going when they try to induce me. If I choose to wait until 39 weeks that is fine too. I got the impression that 39 weeks is the longest they'll let me wait. Ben is about 1 week ahead of schedule so it's possible that one day in the end of May could be the big day!

Deliver me from L&D!

I went in yesterday for my non-stress test, which has been stressful pretty much every week. This week was no exception. Benjamin's heart was fine and so was my blood pressure, but I was having a lot of small, ineffective contractions (3 in 8 minutes!) so my doctor sent me to Labor and Delivery, just to be evaluated. Evaluated means poked and prodded by various uncomfortable means. My contractions continued, but I was not dialated at all. Apparently an infection was causing the contractions and I was given IV antibiotics. IVs are hard to accomplish in pregnant women and here's where the poking part of being evaluated comes in. By the time the 3rd nurse came in to try and find a vein I was sobbing. I was hurt and worried and hungry and tired. I felt really bad for the nurses and really really bad for myself. They finally got a vein and after the IV was finished I was free to go home with pills I take every 6 hours to relax my uterus so I don't have any more contractions. The pills relax ALL of me and make me really drowsy and a bit dizzy and weak, but it's better than being hooked up to an IV or having a very small, very sick little baby.