Humphrelia

So I am still pregnant. For those of you have called and I have not spoken to, I was probably asleep – which is what I do most of the time, so don’t feel abandoned. Josh is hoping today is his last day of work for a while, but I am not holding my breath. Ohh! I haven’t tried that yet. Jim has gone to Vegas in hopes that a trek across the country will prompt his first grandchild to make his grand entrance and make him pay extra for a flight home. That is the Humphries sense of humor. So I am going to go wait some more. Thank you for all the support, calls, and emails – they have really helped.

Sorry for the delay!

So you are probably wondering where we have been. Yeah I would like to know that, too. We have finished off our basement, put the finishing touches on my work projects, and closed shop for now. We’ve even finished Willem’s room. Yay, us! We also sludged through the holidays.

Willem’s been keeping us on the move, though. Dec 22: 1 cm dilated, 50% effaced. Dec 29: 2 or 3 cm dilated, 70% effaced. Jan 1, 2:00am: Contractions 1 min long and 2 min apart for 2 1/2 hours – go to hospital only for contractions to cease and have to go home at 5 in the morning. What a great way to start off the new year. We have an appointment tomorrow morning with the midwife, so I guess we will just have to wait some more.

This is the room, mostly done. I have a few other things I would like to do but may not get to!!

Josh had been home for almost two weeks for the holidays but is now back to work until the baby comes. I really don’t care for being alone all the time or really just without him during this time. I never expected for these final few days to be so difficult. I am used to having a lot to do but since mostly everything is done, I am left with just TV… Which has anyone seen daytime TV lately? WOW! Humanity is, like, on the brink!

Okay, so I am adding on to this post the day after it was published: so shoot me!

We went to the midwife this morning, and everything went well. They are shocked I am still walking around at 2 or 3 cm for this long. We got an ultrasound because I am measuring small, but that is due to the fact that I am tall. I know, I know – you probably had not noticed. Anyway, he is 7 lbs. 6 oz. and ready to come out, so we will just wait some more. The midwife has her money on tonight, but we will see.

Yes, I have fallen down on the job. I am updating now mainly upon request and some guilt.

This is the father, for those of you who have never met him. We really hope Will gets daddy’s horns.

Me again, getting bigger. I over estimated how much candy we would need for halloween – now we have so much left over. Darn!

Well, I am really looking forward to seeing those of you who can make it to the shower – you can see the belly move in person! I have been working on the nursery and hope to have it done by the time Will is 3. It has been a busy few weeks but no real doctor visits. We are managing the blood clot and switching meds soon, so I can have an epidural at delivery. Yes, that is another needle. We have been trying to get as much home improvement done as we can, which includes getting the basement finished off. This is what I have been doing instead of updating – they are down there now banging around. Next we are going to paint a couple of rooms and I think we will be done for now. I am going to go eat something.

Okay – I have finally gotten these pictures up. I know I am a big slacker, but I have been busy eating. We went to eat Indian with Karyn & Scott (or “Scaryn” as I call them – don’t worry: you all have cute pet names I don’t call you to your face). Anyway, I was 180 when I woke up that morning and 185 the next morning. I will do the math for you: 185-180=5. That is 5 pounds in 24 hours. Apparently the Indian was tasty – oh, and so was the ice cream afterwards. The shower invitations have mostly gone out. Some of you are hard to find so be patient with me.

Well this is the nursery “before” pic. As you can see, there is a crib (thank you grannie annie), a rocking chair (which was my amma’s), and a dresser that will be a changing table. Tune in later for the big reveal.

This is me – or “my belly” since that is mostly what I am comprised of now. This pic was from an intense photo shoot with Josh, who apparently can’t work a camera because this is an appalling pic, and it was the only salvageable one out of about ten. This is what 25 pounds looks like on me. And, yes, this is after the Indian food.

I am updating from last week because I was so busy with my eating schedule and getting my mom’s house done before the baby comes. And then there are the doctors – yes, they came back with a vengeance this past week. So here is a rundown:

• Dr. Yeagly – Paranatolagist. Great doctor, bad office – it’s decorated like a state farm. The baby is good, the fluid around the baby is good. There is a little extra fluid in the kidneys but nothing to really worry about. We will go back at 34 weeks to do another ultrasound and to switch prescriptions from lovenox to the heparin. It’s still two shots a day, but this is the only way I can get my epidural. And we all know I am a weenie and need all the pain relief legally allowed.
• Dr. Bonser – Ob-Gyn. Moved to new office, and it’s quite spiffy. I am measuring on schedule, weighing on schedule, and the baby’s heart rate is perfect 140’s. I had the glucose testing done and another rogham shot in my butt (and that is no small needle either).
• Dr. Levy – Vascular Surgeon. Appointment is next week – I will let you know.

Dr. Yeagly gave us this pic last friday. It’s the profile of Willem’s face. Some think he looks like me, others think Josh. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Well, as you can see, there are no new pics of anything and for good reason. The blood clot in my leg has returned, and I have been in and out of the doctor’s office for the past few days. Josh is the proud owner of an entirely new box of needles; he gets to stick me with ’em twice a day until Willem arrives. I am also going to start seeing a hematologist to try and find out why this has happened again and will be monitored by a paranatolagist. The good news is that I had some shots here and was able to start treatment immediately, so I was only in pain for a couple of hours – as opposed to days. I saw the OB today: the baby’s heart rate is in the 140’s (which is good), and everything else is fine with him. I don’t sleep much due to constant indigestion, so if you see my lights on at 4 o’clock, know I am in pain.

T minus 16 weeks and counting. Mom has started the baby shower planning, and I have begun decorating the nursery – which means I have picked out a color. Now all I have to do is paint the room. Willem is on the move from sun up to sun down lately, squirming and kicking constantly. I am about to grow out of some of my maternity shirts soon. I really never thought that would happen, but it’s going to, and it was like an overnight thing. Some time this week I plan to post “before” pics of the nursery and an outside pic of Willem (me).

Well, no pics this time, but all good news: all of my docs have decided I don’t need to be stuck, poked, or scanned – at least until the 24th. The blood clot is stable and not getting worse. The baby has become quite active lately, which is weird and cool but most of all: reassuring. Oh yeah – just 17 more weeks to go.

Today we had a level-2 ultrasound, but we will get back to that. Well, on Thursday I woke up and damned if I could not walk. So being the stubborn ass I am, I waited until Friday to call the doctor. So I spent last Friday and most of Saturday in the hospital. Yes, I know you are all jealous of the food, the transformer bed, and the sweet melody of sirens lulling you to sleep. After more tests and more tests and the night in the hospital, Josh now gets to poke me with a needle twice a day – breakfast and dinner no less… you know something to look forward to. Oh well, so I got a visit to the Fetal doctor who took these lovely pics with her very expensive doppler machine and deemed the baby a’okay.

	This is a foot in case you missed the clue.
	You are beyond help if you don’t see it under the label that says BOY.

We went back to the OB office today and had a full check of the baby. They measure the head and make sure all of the organs are there. This is where they are supposed to tell you what the sex is, but as we all know I am a sly fox and have already retrieved this info. Also, they have taken me off of my medicine after reviewing the chart from the vascular surgeon. Oh yeah, you guys didn’t know I now have a whole team of doctors: they like to probe me with doppler machines at every turn. So far I have had three (yes, three) doppler studies done on my leg. This does not include the baby dopplers. The clot is still there but not getting worse, so the hope is that it is over.

	Can you see it now? On another note, If you look near where the nose is you will see a sort of bubble floating in the black space: that is the cord.
	Ok, how ’bout now?
	This is a great picture of the lens in the eye. It is a perfectly round circle in the eye which is in the head, which is the large round circle on the left.