4 weeks old on 7/17/2007!

Award-winning reproduction!




Smelling her gets you totally high...




...its hard to keep your eyes open around it, its that powerful. All you want to do is snuggle and sleep.




ChubbyBubby.




This is dad's famous football hold. She loves it when she has gas.





She is totally awesome.
I actually am having a hard time believing she came out of me only 4 weeks ago. It seems so surreal, especially when I think about the pain of things leading up to birth. It was all worth it. I would not change a thing.
I am adjusting to the no-sleep way of life. Its kinda like walking around on ether. I am just kind of numb. That is, until she chomps my nipple. THAT hurts in a way I cannot describe. then its bruised for a few days.
Not fun.
But hey, I have lost 20 pounds since I gave birth. All because of breastfeeding.
And one other thing... today is our 7 year anniversary.
How about that.
Cheers.

C-Jo in her first hooded track suit and stuff.

Right now she is so cute it doesn't matter that I am not really sleeping. And so far the diaper tally is on daddy's side as I have changed a grand total of maybe 10 and he has changed something like a thousand, I think.

Thumbelina.

??? Yeah, mostly I can't see straight. And thats right, you can see down my shirt. Dad took the photo. Take it up with him.

Finally.

Labor started at 345am on Tuesday June 19th, and ended at 131pm the same day with the birth of our daughter.
It was awesome.
Here are some photos. I will write more later.
We love her so much. She changes every day.
Today she is one week old.

The time has come... and gone.

Well, she was due to show up on the 12th.
Of course, she just stayed put.
According to the tests and the doctor, everything is fine, and she is healthy, and its common for first babies to be overdue.
So we wait.
And she swims.
Her father is more stressed out than I am, but I am more uncomfortable. I am not sure if either one is worse.
I look forward to her arrival as I can no longer put my own pants on or my shoes.

"I went to the doctor and the doctor said..."

...that there was no change in dilation but the baby was definitely lower and on the launching pad.
She is going to 'launch' out of my vagina, I guess. Like a rocket? Scary prospect.
All I know is that I am really looking forward to giving birth. I watch ANYTHING on tv about birth or babies, I get all teary and stuff and my husband makes fun of me. Like when we watched The Happiest Baby on the Block dvd, I got all snively. Just seeing a newborn on screen is enough to set me off.
(I love this dvd, by the way. The newborn reaction is amazing. I can't wait to try it out for myself.)
And at this point, I can't watch violence toward children of any age anymore. Not in movies, not on tv... I can't take it. I literally want to scream. I don't, of course, but the rising up in my gut is definitely there.
I am going to eat some breakfast now. I am happy to announce that I can now eat full portions as I have more room for my stomach. However, I pee every 20 minutes.

OK, this is ridiculous!

So its been 13 days and she is still hanging out in utero. She must be really comfortable, which is more than I can say for myself.



I went to my doctor's appointment last Monday and found out I was 2cm dilated and 25% effaced. And then come to find out that some women stay at that point for a very long time. Go figure.
So after losing sleep in anticipation of the events to come, I have given up all hope and am continuing on with life as usual, with the exception of not traveling too far from the home and hospital, and not hanging out in bars.
At least the nursery is finished.

LET THE BLOODY SHOW BEGIN!!!

Yeah, well, all I can say is "Big whoop."
I was so jazzed up! I mean, it was like, "This is it, folks! She is coming!"
I got up yesterday, had some breakfast, did a few things around the home, called a friend to help me with the grocery shopping and then went to the potty.
Talk about slimey gross-ness... so I wiped it up, flushed the toilet and got going.
After the store was done and the groceries were put away, I went to the potty again. Its about 1pm.
it looked like I started my period, only slimy-er. Geeze.
I woke my husband and we concluded thru reading books that this wass the mucous plug/bloody show portion of the birth process. So I called my doctor and the nurse practioner and was told to come in when contractions are 5-10 minutes apart.
Wha?
Labor? So soon?
So then I remember that since last Sunday I have been having mild alternating with strong contractions. At night. And the funny thing is? EVERYONE said, "Oh, you mean Braxton-Hicks contractions?"
Hear this- THEY ARE NOT THOSE. Not even close.
So anyway, we were told to expect labor within 48 hours. Or so it usually goes. Could go up to a week or so, but prolly not.
Hmmm.
So last night I did not sleep, had some painful contractions, then just had a band of pain around the middle of my body.
Fell asleep for an hour and 9 minutes.
And now I am drinking coffee and getting ready to take my shreddables to the shredder man, get a pedicure and finish setting up the nursery.
And so it goes.
Still leaking stuff from my nether regions.
I will keep you posted.