4 months

This post is quite late seeing as little Z is almost 5 months now, but you'll overlook that won't you? Its difficult to make time for blog posting during nap time when there are several (hundred) other things calling for my attention and such a limited time for me to get them done! I applaud those mamas out there who are so faithful about it.

At 4 months, Zoe measured in at 15 lbs 1 oz and 24 1/2 inches long. She continues to be around the 75th percentile for height and weight and we're so blessed with a healthy, happy girl! Most days she is down to 5 feedings, and we started solid foods this week. So far she is enjoying sweet potatoes!

In the past 3 weeks, she has found her toes and really enjoys grabbing them whatever chance she gets. Its become another favorite activity on the changing table especially. She rarely rolls over but continues to do better and better with tummy time. She is so strong its amazing how well and how long she can hold that head up!

Zoe continues to be quite the talker and has now added a sort of growl to her repertoire. She seems to wind up and push her chest out when she does it, so we call it her Godzilla impression. We usually know she is awake in the morning by hearing her babbles over the monitor and she seems quite content to talk away until one of us (usually Daddy) rescues her from her crib. Its so nice when she wakes up happy and content! She and Daddy will often hang out together for a bit in the morning until I can pull myself out of bed. I'm still not a morning person and 7:30 comes so early it seems. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that she sleeps thru the night and consistently lets us sleep until 7:30 or sometimes even 8. The later the better for me :-)

While we have some bad days here and there, and there are things that just aren't as easy or fast as they used to be, we're so very thankful for our little girl. Life is not the same, its even better.

Its a Girl!

Baby girl was due 1/6 and as of 1/11 she was making no moves to enter the world anytime soon, so we went into the hospital that night to begin induction. It was so weird leaving our house that last time, knowing we'd be coming home with our baby we'd been dreaming about for 10 months, and life would never be the same.

I was admitted into INOVA Fairfax hospital at 9pm and the fun began :) I was still not dilated at all at that point so they gave me some medication overnight to hopefully soften things up before starting the Pictocin the next morning. During the night, baby's heart rate dropped at one point so I was given Oxygen and fluids for awhile, and this seemed to take care of it. My OB, Dr. Wolf, came to check on me at 6am when they started the Pictocin, and her exam unfortunately showed that I was still not dilated at all. She managed to break my water in hopes of moving things along, but she warned me that it could be a long day and that baby was still pretty high so that I should be prepared for a C-section if labor did not progress as hoped. We had discussed this at my last office visit so Geoff and I weren't surprised and we'd agreed that whatever was necessary to get baby out safely was fine with us. Our "labor plan" was all about flexibility!

Shortly after my OB left, baby's heart rate dropped again so the nurses stopped the Pictocin drip. I'd only been on it for about 45 minutes at this point so while I was having minor contractions that felt like cramping, labor hadn't really had a chance to get going. My OB had gone into surgery during this time so we were waiting to hear back from her as to what she wanted to do. She came into see me again somewhere around 9:30am and determined that since baby's heart rate had dropped twice and labor had hardly progressed at all, she wanted to do a C-section since baby wasn't responding well. She said she'd go find out where to fit me in the schedule, and would be back. As soon as she left, the anesthesiologist was there to have me sign consent forms and I was heading to the operating room within minutes. Everything happened so quickly that we hardly had time to process what was going on- hardly 20 minutes passed between deciding I'd be having a C-section and me being on the operating table, fully prepped.

Geoff wasn't allowed to be in the room while they prepped me, so he was in a little waiting room where he got decked out in scrubs and had a minute to let our parents know what was happening. Then he was by my side as they started the operation, holding my hand and reminding me that he loved me. All the staff were anxious to see whether baby was a boy or girl. I'd told them that I suspected it was a boy, but I had dreamed it was a girl. Apparently dreams are correct. At 10:18am, our little girl was born.

"Its a girl," Dr. Wolf exclaimed as she lifted her over the partition so we could see our beautiful daughter. I was so overwhelmed at this point that when the nurses asked me what her name was going to be, I couldn't remember what we had chosen for a moment! Geoff stayed with Zoe as they stitched me up, and then once she was cleaned up and checked out, I was able to really see her and kiss her precious little face.

Yes, I cried. She was finally here and she was just perfect. The immediate love for her was overwhelming. And how precious to see my husband holding our little girl. I wouldn't have asked for anything different.

Sweet Blueberry

I've been meaning to share this sweet story for awhile now but am just finally getting it down on "paper." We enjoy the "what fruit or veggie is baby this week" updates from babycenter.com- I think because its a more tangible way to understand where little baby is in the development process, size-wise anyway. I've never been good with measurements so being able to visualize what 8 inches or 12 oz. looks like isn't easy for me. Anyway, back when baby was 7 weeks, he/she was the size of a blueberry. Geoff surprised me with breakfast in bed: a blueberry muffin from our favorite local coffee shop and a big decaf coffee (mmm, remember when I used to like coffee!?). He's so thoughtful that way.

26 weeks today, and baby is as tall as an English cucumber (14 inches) and weighs one and two-third pounds. Heard baby's strong heartbeat on Wednesday, about 120bpm. We know 3 couples who have had babies recently without finding out whether they were having a boy or girl -- all 3 have been boys. What do you think that means?!