Nolan Gets Political

Seriously, we did not pose this one, he did it on his own. We're so proud!

Where has the time gone?

When I was pregnant, everyone told me how slowly the time goes by when your first at home with the baby. This must be wrong as I am in complete shock that Nolan will be 3 weeks old on Monday. So much has changed in the last few weeks. He is a PRO at the breastfeeding thing where 2 weeks ago we were feeding him with a syringe. He is awake and "talking" for long periods of time (video coming soon) instead of sleeping ALL the time. He has gained 2 pounds since he was born...did i mention he was a great eater? PLUS he is such a good natured baby, I feel so incredibly fortunate that the only time we hear him cry is when he is hungry or wants to be cuddled. I can spend an entire day just hanging out with him, cuddling, cooing and singing, thus making our days just fly by before i notice that i haven't showered, eaten, drank anything or even used the restroom. I'm working on all of that! So here is Nolan as of yesterday, talking with YaYa who was up for a visit.

More Nolan

A few more pictures.First Bath EVER

My very patient delivery nurse and Nolan
Going home!

Nolan the Bear

First bath at home

Introducing...

After months of anticipation, 3 weeks of contractions and a 2.5 hour delivery Nolan Zachary Clingman arrived on Monday, January 12 at 3:21 am. He weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces, 20.5 inches long and perfect in everyway.

His arrival came as a huge surprise to us (and the medical staff) as we had planned to start the induction process around 7:00 am on Monday morning. Sunday night we were admitted and I was given some medicine to prepare for the induction and an ambien to help me sleep. At 1:00am i woke up to my water breaking and we got started. I got in the jacuzzi tub and relaxed through the contractions, did my breathing exercises just as i was taught and thought "hey i can do this!" After a little while in the tub they decided to pull me out so they could get the monitor on. As i stepped out of the tub i began to shake uncontrollably. I remembered from Emily's labor that this meant i was in transition. I thought, "WOW I'm making great time!" and the nurse assured me that we would have a dinner time baby. I walked from the bathroom to the bed and this is when things got serious. Suddenly i was in pain, and i mean real pain. I turned to the nurse, demanding that she do something about this, my coping mechanisms were out the door. I collapsed on the bed begging for them to give me something. They decided to check me and to everyone's surprise, i was completely dilated.

Since i was the only person on the floor delivering that day, and we weren't expected to get started until later, the doctor had gone home. The entire nursing staff rushed in to deliver. Luckily, the doctor only lived 2 minutes from the hospital and sure enough made it in time to catch me pushing. 6 pushed later, Nolan was here.

Pat was amazingly calm through all of this, and was amazed at how quickly he arrived. For a man that said he was going to stay up by my head the whole time, he really got into it, holding my legs and cutting the umbilical cord.

I am still in shock that it happened this way, but in the end we got exactly what we asked for. I was able to go all natural, use my relaxation techniques and he even has curly hair. I wouldn't change a thing.

So here is our new family. We couldn't be happier.

The End is Near!

I had my weekly doctors appointment on Friday and they informed me that my body was starting to show signs of stress from the pregnancy and that the baby would need to come out sooner then later. So they let me come home and try a bunch of natural induction methods with the plan that is none of them work i will head into Labor and Delivery on Sunday night with a Monday morning induction. I was so relieved to hear that this was almost over as i could tell my body was just not tolerating the pregnancy as well as it once had. Eating, sleeping and moving around had become very difficult so my patience was running out! When i got home though i realized that have a pitocin induced birth meant throwing away most of my birth plan (no medicine, lots of movement to control pain, etc). So I'm trying everything to get this going before our appointment tomorrow. I have tried a bunch of things today with no luck with the plan to start taking Castor oil tomorrow morning as a last resort. Keep your fingers crossed that all these attempts combined with the full moon tonight that something will work. The great news is regardless of how labor starts, there will be a baby by Monday. It's crazy to think he is almost here! I will post pictures as soon as i can so keep checking the blog next week. We'll finally get to see who he looks like...and hopefully he will come home with a name!

As requested, one last belly shot. This picture as taken on our way to the hospital.

STILL waiting!

Here we are in 2009 and still no baby! i really didn't think i would go this long and had it in my head that he would be here in 2008 but nope, he has other plans. My doctor is always the optimist and assures me that it will be any day now but i'm convinced that we are going to have to force him out. It is definitely getting tough waiting around for something to happen especially when you throw in contractions but i'm trying to enjoy these last few days (or weeks) of the pregnancy and am very grateful that he is healthy and happy in his little world. Fortunately there is a light at the end of the tunnel. He will be here by January 21 as they will not let me go a week past my due date. Keep your fingers crossed that he decides it is time before the doctor does so we don't have to do much intervention. Who knows, maybe this time next week he will be here and we will be home...we'll see!

Snowed In

Let me start off by saying i really like this weather. The snow is so beautiful, it makes everything look fresh out of the wash clean and silences the entire city. The down side is that I haven't left the house since Wednesday and I'm starting to LOSE IT! I believe Seattle's DOT has given up on plowing West Seattle roads as they are still mounds of snow and ice and therefore i am not driving in it. I think I'm a pretty good driver in the snow really but it's the fear of someone else who is not hitting me that keeps me in the house.

So I've been working from home, being extremely productive getting everything done and trying to stay busy. But all this time in one place has given me way too much time to think about things and worry. When is he going to come? Is it going to be today? So i find myself acutely aware of what my body is doing and wondering "is this it" at every single pinch and throb? Who knows but here is what we've been up to in these last few days...

We prepared for Christmas by hanging our stockings and baking cookies

and we played in the snow

Snow Day!

I know most people post pictures of their kids dressed in 10 layers playing in the snow but i figured for our last year sans child we would let our exclusively indoor cats venture outside so we could take cute pictures of them. Cortez was curious although not very happy about the coldness of the snow...

Mavis only made it about 3 steps out the door before heading back in. I don't blame her...it's freezing outside!

Nursery Complete...Almost

Many of you are aware that we have been working on this nursery since about the week after we found out we were pregnant. The main problem being that we were actually sleeping in the room that was to become our nursery and we needed to create another room for us to move into. So the master suite project began. We converted the former man cave (sorry Pat!) into what will one day be a full master suite complete with a second bathroom and a closed in walk in closet...oh i can picture it now! For now it's a room with an open walk in closet and no bath.

Here is the process...

Step one: remove the horrible paneling and ceiling tiles which were both hung incorrectly.

Step Two: install more outlets and better electrical.

Step Three: Put up new (mildew/mold resistant) drywall

Step Four: Add trim and Paint

Who would have thought that this process would take almost 9 months to complete? But we made it we moved out just before Thanksgiving which put us (and by us I mean Pat as I am too big to be lifting/moving/painting) into high gear to get the nursery done. So i am happy to say that the nursery is complete...minus a few touch ups on the paint (note the can of paint in the picture below as a reminder). Here it is...

And a close up of my favorite part...the crib
I would like to thank everyone who made this room possible. The fine people of craigslist that helped make my espresso baby furniture dream come true, Michael Clingman and Crew for helping Pat when he got in way over his head on the construction piece, Emily for generously loaning me her baby neccessities, my mom for helping me organize, reorganize and organize again. But most of all Pat for putting up with month and months of me pushing him to get this project done so that i could finally get to my maternal rite to nest.

Best Baby Shower Ever Part II

Sorry no posts lately...it's been a busy week! I had my work shower on Wednesday, hosted by my coworkers Julie and Rachelle. We played shower games including the dreaded "measure the belly with string" game. Fortunately, everyone cut theirs way too big proving my point that i look bigger then i really am...is this a good thing? We also had the very best cake ever, it was coconut creme and is my new favorite thing. Picture included here...

The picture above was taken at the shower and therefore is my most recent pic (35 weeks exactly here).

Also this week was my doctors appointment (although i will be going every week from now on) and she said i am already dilating and he is very very low. This isn't a huge shock to me as i have been having contractions for the last 2 weeks or so and would actually be pretty disappointed if they hadn't progressed to SOMETHING! My doctor said she didn't think i would make it the entire 40 weeks and that he could be coming this month. This Wednesday (December 17) I will be full term so i am happy to go anytime after that. So stay glued to the blog as i will be updating it with all the latest happenings.