Bed rest. Even less fun than it sounds.

So I'm officially on bed rest, which is nearly impossible for me, as apparently I can't stay in the bed. But we've had a lot of help with Betty, my mom Jackie, and my dad Josh and stepmom Elisa. In the meantime, I'm on antibiotics until my lab work comes back and they decide why I was/am having severe lower abdominal cramping. They're trying to rule out anything serious. Today my dad and Elisa go back home, and Betty left a couple of days ago to Florida to visit some friends, and mom will probably be leaving shortly, so we'll have a few days to see how it feels with no help before Betty comes back up for a little bit.

The show has taken a turn for the worse as well, and they had to cancel last night's show, since all of the cast members seem to be puking and pooping out of everywhere. Hopefully Mike doesn't bring it home, as I don't know that we can handle a baby AND either of us being sick right now. But he's not showing any signs, so we're crossing our fingers.

We took our first mall outing with Constance yesterday, and that went just fine. She slept the whole time, except when she decided to take a massive blowout crap all over herself and my mom, requiring my mom to get a new shirt, since the one with poop stain

on it was white.

She sleeps fairly regularly, but we've noticed her food intake is going up. That's good, as she was born at approximately 7 lbs 9 oz, and by her 7 day checkup she was up to 7 lbs 15 oz. She's a hearty eater. But she rarely needs a pacifier, as we are using the Dunstan baby language theory thing my mom showed us on youtube that helps you decipher what the baby is crying for. So far, it's 100% accurate for us.

In the mean time, I had my parents get in a photo for us, and we'll do a shoot with Betty when she gets back, and hopefully with all of the family members as they join us. As long as I don't get in too much trouble for "doing too much". :/

Constance Noel Zaller

Our due date was guesstimated at January 30th, but we were never sure on the date of conception, so it was all based on ultrasound measurements. Still, you always hope your baby gets there by the due date. Every day after that seems like forever. Our plan was to have the baby at the Midwife Group in Savannah. And, no, we never did know the gender.

My mom got here on January 8th to help out, and assuming we'd have a baby by then. Mike's mom had been here since mid January, hoping I would deliver early (hah!). So it was a waiting game.

On the night of January 9th, around 10:30, we were at home watching movies and I got up as I had my first contraction that actually kind of hurt. It felt like I had menstrual cramps that wrapped around like an inflatable floatie on my middle and back. We finished the movie and went to bed. By midnight, I started timing the contractions, as they were all starting to have that crampy feeling. I was instructed not to call the Birth Center unless my contractions were 5 minutes apart or less for an hour, or if my water broke, so I stayed home, as the contractions were timing between 5 and 10 minutes. But they were getting pretty intense, so I left the bedroom to give Mike some sleep, because I started to not be able to stay still or quiet.

By 3:30am I had been having regular contractions at 5 minutes or less, so we called the midwife and they told us to come in so I could be checked. We assumed we'd be sent home, though, because I was convinced I'd be pregnant forever (I was officially 11 days over my due date at this point). About 4:15am they hooked me up to a monitor and checked my dilation, told me we needed to stay there and get comfortable because "it looks like you're gonna have a baby tonight!".

So we woke up our moms and they came down to help us. The birth center was pretty busy that night, and it was really late, so we decided it was best not to call people, as it's a very small place, and there was nowhere for people to stand if they showed up. That, and the contractions were so painful that I didn't want to have people watch me go through them (even though they only lasted about a minute each). Between contractions, however, I couldn't have been more normal or felt better. Except that I was tired (I hadn't slept since the night before).

It was apparently a record-setting day, as there were 5 women who had called in to deliver that day (there had been no births over the weekend. I guess babies decided to take Chinese New Year off this year). I was the second person in, so I was hoping to be the second person delivered. Betty was staying with the Meeces, and Michelle came by in the morning and talked to me, played with my hair, and prayed for me during my contractions until she had to leave. However, things were progressing slowly for me, so I didn't call Erin (to take photos) until around 10:30am. Mom was hoping I'd deliver by 1:00pm, but that time came and went. They finally gave me a little medication just to take the edge off so I could sleep during my 5 minutes of non-contractions (the medicine worked for just about 2 hours- they decided I needed the energy for when I had to push).

I'm not sure when I started pushing, but from what I've heard, it was well over 2 hours. Mike kept telling me I was his hero, and Erin put down the camera toward the end of the labor to help hold my legs and coach me through delivery. They were great. The midwife, Nancy, was within 10 minutes of sending me to the hospital to deliver when I finally pushed the baby out. The staff was excited to find out if it was a boy or a girl, and it ended up being a girl. They handed her straight to me, right out, still attached, and cleaned her up right on my chest. Where she took a huge dump. Thanks, baby.

It was 9:17pm. She was 7lbs 9oz, and we named her Constance Noel Zaller. Erin put some of the photos on her blog, if you'd like to see what the whole process was like. http://erinrenephotography.com/blog/?p=732

We're home now, and trying to rest. She's been a pretty easy baby, but it's been less than 2 days, so I'm not counting my chickens just yet. I'm on bedrest for 2 weeks, though, and I'm taking full advantage of it. :)

Last days..

So my mom comes in tomorrow from Vegas to stay for a week, and my dad and stepmother will be here the following Monday (Valentine's day).

We saw the midwives again today and they said that while things were progressing, the baby is just too comfortable in there. I had a non-stress test which measures the baby's heart rate and the contractions. Had an ultrasound to determine amniotic fluid levels. The baby is still at 2.5 cm dilated and 75% effaced, and at a -1 station which was exactly the same as last time. They also did a "membrane sweep" which is fairly unpleasant, but the midwife said that it didn't really do anything because there was "nothing to sweep". If you don't know, google it. It's too weird to explain.

Though I told them my grandma advised me against it, they are putting me on a castor oil regimen starting tomorrow morning. They're making me mix it with things as well as... well a few other unpleasant things I have to do. :/ I'll leave a couple of things to your imagination. They advised me against shopping at the mall tomorrow. :)

Anyhow, they're hopeful that they can get me to go into labor by tomorrow night, but if I haven't, we go back in for another checkup on Wednesday. The nurse said that they would probably not let us go past Saturday before inducing at the hospital, but the midwife didn't want us to think about that just yet, so she said we'll get there when we get there. Taking it all one day at a time. Definitely will keep you posted.

Nearly one week past due

Just sharing a photo that Mike took today. We're officially 40 weeks and 6 days (approximately... apparently ultrasound due dates can be 2 weeks off in either direction). Next appointment is on Monday, and they'll check to make sure the baby's heart rate is okay, and there is enough amniotic fluid.

Hopefully, though, they'll just tell us that our newborn is just fine. We'll see. I'm not crossing my fingers. This IS a Savannah baby, you know, and time ticks a little slower here.

February

Well, luckily, Savannah is completely missing the massive ice and snowstorms that the rest of the country seems to be stuck in. That's a great thing for us, but a really crappy thing if the baby gets here in the next day or so, as my mom won't probably be able to make it here right away for the birth. Still, she'll come when she can, and my dad and stepmom will get here on the night of Valentine's, and it'll be fun.

And, as you may have noticed, the January 30th due date has come and gone, and now we're 4 days past the due date. That's okay with me, though, as today marks the first day of the Chinese New Year! It's the year of the rabbit, so it should be a much calmer year than last year's tiger sign. Rabbit year is a symbol of fertility and commitment, so it will be good for family and relationships.

The Savannah Tenors show opened last weekend, and it's getting great audience reviews. Michael went on tv today and did a segment, complete with a few show clips, so I'm posting a link here. Mike's appearance on WTOC

We've also started ordering this cool thing called Farm Box where we get bi-monthly deliveries of fresh organic local food, and we're really enjoying it. I'm sitting here eating organic chocolate peanut butter granola. Hey, I didn't say it was 100% healthy...