I noticed the expiration date on my carton of milk this morning because it was pretty close to my birthday in July, and that suddenly reminded me of being pregnant. No, I didn’t have milk cravings or anything like that. I don’t even like milk very much, actually… I just put it in my coffee. :) It’s more about the actual date itself.

I’ve never had to care much about the expiration date of my milk before… I’m lactose intolerant and all lactose free milk has an incredibly long shelf-life (I bought this particular carton of milk last month and it doesn’t expire until July 10th!), unlike regular old milk. So I rarely if ever look at the expiration date since I don’t really need to.

When I was pregnant, though, the expiration date on my milk carton started to mean something. Every time I bought a carton of milk, the expiration date was slowly getting closer… and closer… and closer… to my due date! I actually remember buying my first carton of milk that expired after my due date. It was kind of a weird feeling, and I recall having a thought that by the time I finished the milk, I might already have a baby!

Last year, when Zachary turned 1, I thought about it again when I bought a carton of milk that expired after his birthday/due date.

I wonder if I’ll think about milk carton expiration dates the same way the next time I get pregnant. I wonder if I’ll always think about expiration dates that way even when my kids are all grown up. Probably. :)

Did you use anything like a milk carton expiration date as a judge of how close you were getting to your due date while you were pregnant, too?

Btw… if you wouldn’t mind casting a vote for my blog here and here, I would be so appreciative! Thanks! :)

We are truly lucky with our dog, Maya, a longhaired mini dachshund. Maya is a small and somewhat possessive dog (never bitey, but she loves her mama), so when I got pregnant, I wondered what she would be like when the baby came. She really took to me even more and became very close to me during my pregnancy, often stopping to lick my belly or lay close to my belly to feel the baby kick. She knew there was a little “puppy” growing in there, and when it came time for him to join our world, she was soooo excited to meet him!

When Zachary was born, Maya stayed at my parents’ house for two weeks while we got used to the whole parenthood thing, and then she came home. She was always extremely careful and gentle around the baby. She only wanted to kiss him. As he got bigger, she tried to play with him, and eventually taught him to push her favorite tennis ball – and then, much to her delight, throw it! They both absolutely love to go out on our back porch area and play fetch (and other games) together.

Now that Zachary is mobile, they play around the house like two puppies. It brings Maya AND Zachary so much joy to play with each other. If I’m in the kitchen and I look into Zachary’s room, I might see them both sitting on the floor, each playing with their respective toys. Other times, I hear happy giggles or dog noises coming from behind me and smile to see them chasing each other around in a circle! Other times they sit quietly on the couch watching tv together, Zachary with his arm across Maya, and her head stuck in position to lick his leg over and over (he doesn’t mind).

He gives her kisses on the head, and she gives him many kisses back. He gives her big, sweet baby hugs, and she gives him a lick on the face.

They are best friends.

I took these images a little over a week ago. We put Maya on her leash and let her sit in the front yard while Zachary played. He came right over to her and sat down in the grass, and she laid right next to him, with the most perfect look of joy on her face. I’m so glad that my dog, my first baby, has accepted and loves my little boy so much. I thank her every single day when I scratch her head and give her an extra treat, just for being wonderful.

Maya is turning 7 this year. I wish she would live forever!

My friend Heather Lilly (an awesome Erie, Colorado photographer), who is pregnant and now in her 2nd trimester, has been scouring the web for everything pregnancy-related, as you do when you are newly pregnant for the first time. The stuff out there now is way cooler than what was around when I first got pregnant two years ago. SIDEBAR — two years? How did that happen? Two years ago right now I was only five weeks pregnant and had no idea what kind of adventures were in store for me.

Anyway, I digress!! Heather found this awesome website from the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago called Make Room for Baby – an interactive exhibit that allows you to go through the process of pregnancy to birth.

It is really cool and especially fun when you make it zip through very quickly. Haha… but really what’s neat is that it shows you the process and transformation that the body goes through during pregnancy. Carrying a baby is an incredible ordeal for the human body. It is amazing that our bodies are able to squish everything together to make room for a tiny person… or in my case, not so tiny – Zachary was nearly ten pounds when he was born, and if you know me in person you’ll know that I am not in any way, shape or form a tall or large person. I barely top five-one. I can’t even begin to imagine the changes that my body had to go through on the inside to make room for my baby. I also count myself to be extremely lucky in the fact that although my c-section itself was a bit tough, I recovered miraculously well.

I definitely recommend visiting the website and taking a look at the exhibit. If you want to know more about the intricacies of human development inside the womb (when do the eyelids and fingernails develop?), checking out this site is also a must.

Zach is 2 weeks old today, so I figured it was finally time to post his birth story.

On Wednesday, November 20th, Adrian and I went to my 39 week doctor’s appointment. My blood pressure was still elevated after a few weeks, and my swelling was out of control. While I was never officially diagnosed with preeclampsia, the doctors decided that it was not worth the risk of waiting, and sent me for an ultrasound the following day to check on the baby and see how big he was. The next day, we went for the ultrasound early that morning and found that the baby was estimated to be about eight and a half pounds! Between his size and concerns over my health, the doctor decided that we would try to induce me the next day.

We went to the hospital at 4:30am and I was started on a Pitocin drip by 6:30am. The contractions started coming, but were not too regular or too bad. The doctor on call showed up around 10am and checked my progress. Unfortunately I was still dilated only 2cm and nothing was happening- the baby was still too high and she did not think he would drop. She said that it was in my best interest to do a c-section because of his size and my lack of progress. She hoped we would be able to get me to the OR by 4pm, but there were a number of other c-sections and inductions that day that needed to be taken care of, so she warned us that there might be a delay. Unfortunately again, I had to stay on the Pitocin drip until they were ready for surgery, since they had to call it a failed induction to do the c-section.

Although I was on a low dose of Pitocin, it was not kind to me. It made me shake uncontrollably and I often felt like I was having a panic attack even though I knew, rationally, that there was nothing to worry about. My baby was still doing great inside me, with a strong heartbeat, and I just had to wait it out until I could meet him.

At about 1pm I got my epidural. The contractions had gotten much more difficult by that point, and my doctor wanted to make sure I was already numbed so that when it came time for surgery, they wouldn’t have to do much to prep me. I was a bit scared of the epidural, but the nurses were really kind and made me feel a lot better… and once it kicked in, I felt MUCH better and was finally able to relax.

In addition to the other side effects, the Pitocin also gave me a horrible, horrible migraine. The nurses couldn’t get ahold of my doctor for a while, so they were only able to give me Tylenol for it, which didn’t do anything. I was in pain and nauseated from the migraine, and finally my doctor came in and had a narcotic prescribed to take care of my headache. Once I got the medication for my headache was the only time that I felt completely relaxed all day.

Due to a few unexpected emergency c-sections, I didn’t get to go in for surgery until 8pm. Once I got into the OR, I started getting scared… it has always been a fear of mine that I would feel any surgery and that the anesthetic would not work, so I started to panic again… my doctor and nurses were very reassuring and made me feel a lot better though, and once Adrian arrived into the OR, I felt much, much better that he was there.

They started the surgery very quickly. Adrian held my hand for a bit to support me, but once I asked if they were taking the baby out, I told him to make sure he got the shot – he of course had his camera equipment with him to take photos of the baby as soon as he popped out!

While I did not feel the incision itself, the surgery was far from painless. Because the baby was bigger than anticipated and because he hadn’t dropped, the doctor and midwife had to push pretty hard on my belly to get him out. This was VERY painful for me and every time they had to push on me it felt like my shoulders were breaking and that I couldn’t breathe. This was pretty scary and I am thankful for the nice nurse who rubbed my shoulders and reassured me that everything was going to be okay and that the baby was fine.

When the doctor finally got him out and I heard him cry for the first time, it was an amazing experience. I was so happy that he was out and that he was well. I watched as Adrian cut the cord and then I finally asked the nurse for something for the pain because my entire body felt like it was on fire (well, from the waist up, since the epidural did a good job of taking care of me from the waist down). She gave me a shot and I immediately passed out.

I woke up a while later in the OR recovery room in excruciating pain. The nurse had already administered morphine right before I woke up, so unfortunately there wasn’t anything she could do because they had to wait half an hour before giving me another dose. The pain was absolutely horrible. They had removed the epidural after stitching me up, so once I got to the recovery room, I was able to feel everything from the waist down as the medication wore off.

After about 20 minutes of talking to the nurse (rather, her talking to me to try to distract me from the pain), Adrian finally found out where I was, and came to be with me, which was a huge relief. They were able to give me the second dose of Morphine soon, but it didn’t do very much for the pain level, only cutting it a little bit. Soon, my Percocet prescription came in and that really, really helped, bringing the pain level down to only a two or three. Once the nurse was confident that I felt better, they moved me to my recovery room.

Not long after, they brought little Zachary Jacob to see me for the first time. I was amazed by how beautiful he was. Adrian and I couldn’t believe that we had created something so perfect. The pain of the surgery was 100% worth it (even more so now that I am feeling better). I am very proud of myself and what I went through to give birth to my son and would absolutely do it again.

The next day they did some blood work, and when my doctor came to visit me, we found out that I had lost a lot of blood during the surgery and that I would need a blood transfusion. I hadn’t noticed how badly I felt because of the blood loss, because I was so incredibly tired from the lack of sleep. The baby also had some bloodwork done, and we learned that Zachary had jaundice. He would have to be under lights to clear the bilirubin from his system. We started with a bili-bed, which Zachary hated! He didn’t like knowing that we were there in the room and not holding him. We made a decision to put him in the nursery overnight so that he could be under more powerful lights. As for me, they did the transfusion on Sunday and I was thankfully able to be released on Monday, and so was the baby.

Unfortunately, Zach had to return to the hospital on his one-week birthday because his bilirubin had gone up again. We spent the night in the hospital on Friday, and by Saturday night, his numbers were were much better, and they released us once again. The following day we had his Bris, and he is now doing wonderfully and is no longer jaundiced. He is a wonderful, beautiful, incredible baby, and we are so, so blessed to have him in our lives.

Here are a few pictures from his birth. Some of the birth photos are a little graphic (two images from surgery), so click the link below view them.

Hanging out in my Labor & Delivery room waiting for my c-section.

The nurse reassuring me before surgery began.

Zachary being born.

Dr. Sasser shows off the baby to the camera.

Newborn Zachary.

Zachary getting his footprints done.

Holding my beautiful boy for the first time.

Me and Adrian… proud parents.

All photos taken by my wonderful husband Adrian, except the last one which was taken of the three of us by my dad.

Adrian took a pic of me with my iPhone. I’m now set up with saline & pitocin. Still feeling pretty good! Thank you everyone for your well wishes!!!

Adrian and I are going in for a scheduled induction at 4:30am. We had the ultrasound this morning, and the baby is measuring pretty big (8lb, 9oz), so they’ve decided that it’s time to file an eviction notice!

Because my blood pressure has been elevated and I’m having such bad swelling in my legs, they don’t see any reason to prolong the pregnancy, since these are both signs of pre-ecclampsia, a dangerous condition that they don’t want me to experience.

The bags are all packed (yes, the camera bags too), and we’re ready to roll. Adrian and I are off to go straighten up the house a bit and then go get some sleep. It will be our last night of sleep as a family of two. Kind of surreal, but extremely exciting, too!!

I’m sure I will update the blog at some point tomorrow with a photo (the hospital has wi-fi, woohoo!) and will definitely be updating my twitter for sure, if you want to check that out for up to the minute breaking news. :)

Tomorrow I’m officially 39 weeks pregnant, meaning there are 8 more days until my due date.

The baby is doing very well inside his mommy and has a nice, strong heartbeat.

I am FINALLY dilated… 1.5cm. Not too much, but it’s a sign that things are moving along and getting more real.

However, after talking to the doctor and midwife today, it looks like I will be needing a c-section. Quite possibly due to my height (only 5′1″), I am measuring big as if the baby was 41 weeks rather than 39. The midwife is almost completely sure the baby is bigger, over 8lb, and she is concerned that since he has not dropped into alignment yet and is still extremely high up, that he a) might be too big to align properly, or b) may not drop in time after my water breaks, meaning I’d end up with an unnecessarily long labor that would end in a section anyway.

Also because of the very extreme swelling I’m experiencing (scroll down a couple posts to see the pic of my horribly swollen feet), and the fact that my blood pressure has been a little elevated the last couple times, she said I may not be a good candidate for a natural birth.

So, tomorrow Adrian and I are heading back to the doctor for another ultrasound to check the baby’s weight and see how much fluid is left, and determine if (more likely, when) to schedule a c-section.

Aside from being a little scared (as anyone would be) at the prospect of having abdominal surgery, I am really fine with the idea of a c-section. My mom, as well as MANY of my friends, have had c-sections and they are all recovering just fine and their babies are doing great.  So while it would definitely be inconvenient with double the recovery time, all I really care about is that my baby comes out healthy and happy, whatever way that ends up being.

When I first got pregnant, I immediately imagined carrying the baby around in a baby carrier. It’s just one of those things that popped into my head since I always see parents carrying kids around that way and Adrian and I think it looks pretty adorable.

I first investigated the BabyBjorn, which seemed to be really popular, but then I heard some lousy reviews on it. Then I heard about the Chicco carrier, which people said was much better, but I still wasn’t sold. Finally I decided to register for a sling because I thought that would be the most comfortable option for me. I picked the Moby wrap based on reviews I read online. However, there’s no way that Adrian is going to wear a sling (especially the cute orange one I got as a shower gift!!), so I have been thinking about what he might enjoy for baby-carrying.

A few days ago, my parents were at Baby Love, a huge baby department store right here in our town of Tamarac, and found out about the Ergo baby carrier. It looks way more comfortable and versatile than both the Bjorn and Chicco carriers, and very useful, since it can hold weight up to 90 pounds apparently and can be worn in front, on the hip or as a baby backpack (cuuute!). It is quite a bit more pricey, at $105, but it looks like it would be worth it. If we decide to get a baby carrier, I think this is the one we will definitely be purchasing. Adrian and I both like the black with green lining, and thankfully the Ergo can accomodate our height difference as it will fit me at 5′1″ and Adrian at 6′1″.

I posted the video slideshow the other day but wanted to share some of my favorite maternity portraits over the next couple of days.

Here is one of my favorites… I love how intimate this photo looks. Jessica definitely captured a beautiful moment here.

The other day Adrian and I picked up our gorgeous maternity pictures from our friend Jessica, and of course, I had to make a slideshow! Here are about 45 of our favorite images (though they are all awesome)!

Over the next few days I think I’m going to set up some posts to highlight a few of our favorite images. After all I need a couple drafts ready to hit “post” just in case I go into labor and need something to post for my dailies. :)

If you’re reading this blog from an RSS reader, you may want to click here to view the blog itself to be able to see the slide show.