Griffin River Hess is here!

The story of Griffin's arrival: I decided that the night before his due date we would eat Mexican food in hopes that the myth of spicy foods setting off labor might actually work. Well it did or he is just a very punctual boy! By 11:30 that night I was having contractions but not sure if they were still Braxton Hicks until they became quite steady and by 3 a.m. they were coming every five minutes and increasingly uncomfortable. We headed to the hospital where they proceeded to tell me that I had not made any progress since my dr. visit on Wed.- I did not appreciate this news so they gave me the opportunity to get up and walk to see if that would move me along.
Well it made the contractions come quicker and stronger but still no progress so they sent me home with an Ambien to let me get some rest. HAHAHAHAHAHA

Within another two hours I was in the worst pain imaginable and the contractions were about 2 1/2 minutes apart. Off we went to the hospital again (Linda came to get Hana who was very worried about me and spent several minutes licking my hands- sweet puppy) and still no further progress- I told them to give me an epidural because I couldn't take the pain if it was going to last indefinitely. I hated to do it but there was no way to go on not knowing when it would stop. This of course slowed my labor and they added Pitocin to the mix to get me going again. The labor nurse was so great and by 6 p.m. I was ready to push. G. Paul was with me and parents plus Aunt Cara waited outside.

Griffin River arrived at 6:54 p.m. 8 lbs. 15 oz. and 21 in. long- beautiful but apparently big for me according to all the nurses and the doctor (who was not my dr. because mine was on vacation but you don't really care once it all starts happening). He is gorgeous and we love him to pieces. I am still in recovery mode and of course sleep deprived. G. Paul has already been the best dad doing a lot of diaper changing and soothing when I can't and he is the best husband for encouraging me to rest when I can and soothing me when I am hormonal, tired and frustrated.
Thanks to everyone for the lovely notes and gifts- it is nice to know this little boy has so much love.

2 posts in 1 day

Granted the shower pictures were promised awhile ago, but since G is working on projects before the baby gets here- I thought I better get caught up too.

So we are almost 38 weeks pregnant and as of last week, I had dilated to 1 cm and 60% effaced. Since then lots of Braxton Hicks contractions but not much else, however I am hoping when I go to the Dr. this week that there will be more progress. I really think he is getting too big as I am starting to have back ache and lower abdomen pain when I walk. Hana's walks are getting longer and longer because I am basically strolling at this point- it is very hard for G to slow down his usual pace too- he was secretly glad when I was at work yesterday that he could get Hana walked in under an hour.

The nursery is essentially ready. We just need to add some fun decorations. Also the Great Room is almost complete now that the wall is painted with matching speaker screens, a brand new shade (that of course upset Hana for a few days because it seems to move on its own), and our curtains are being made this week! whew. Now G is on to shelves in the garage for his tools and future kids toys.

Our bags are packed for the hospital and we think we are ready as we will ever be. I have no idea what to expect if and when labor should start on its own but it will be an adventure and I am sure a long blog post will follow once I get a chance to tell you all about the experience. In the meantime check your e-mail for an announcements! :)

Shower pictures at last!

Little boy? not so much

I am 35 weeks now and we excitedly went to get new ultrasound pictures of our little one today. If you recall from the last post, the Dr. thought I was measuring small- well Dr.'s can be wrong, really wrong! The guess now that he is closer to being in the 83rd percentile for weight at this point and I still have 5 weeks to go!!!
So in we go to see the Dr. after the ultrasound and I am preparing to hear that the due date has moved up and G will have to change his travel schedule. Nope- not at all. My due date remains the same as I now fear I will have a gigantic baby. The curious thing about all of it is I managed to lose a pound since the last visit- where is he getting this weight? The good news is he is already in position like he should be but the bad news for me is 5 more weeks potentially of him sitting on my bladder and the lower back ache that has begun. Ahh the joys of being pregnant!
I haven't had much to complain about for the past 8 months so I guess everyone will have to bear with me these last few weeks as it starts to get more and more uncomfortable.

I know everyone is asking for pictures from the shower and they are coming as soon as G puts them on the server. I am also working at thank you notes so don't think we didn't appreciate everything we got- it was really more than we could ever imagine and I think baby is set for the first few months for sure. Mom and Dad's preparation? We will have to see about that.

Happy Birthday to Popsi- we had a great dinner yesterday with the family and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather together.

33 weeks and growing?

Somehow everything that measured perfectly at 30 weeks did not continue to do so at 32 weeks- but the Dr. isn't worried, she left that for me to do. I am sure all is well but she did schedule an ultrasound for 2 weeks from now to check if this little boy is growing at quite the right rate. I find this immensely confusing because I am managing to gain weight and feel he is stretched across my entire body- her measurements did not indicate that this is true and here I was waiting for the announcement that he would in fact come early because he is big. He has other plans perhaps.
I am excited we get to see his picture again because so much will have changed since our 20 week ultrasound and hopefully it will put all my first time mom fears at ease. The good news is we have also survived G's 5 weeks on the road to have him home this week- Hana is as excited as I am because someone else can entertain her. She has still not been quite right herself since being ill last week so she is also headed to the doctor on Tuesday for a check up. However when the sun came out today and the temperature reached 60 degrees but snow was still on the ground- well this thrilled her to no end and I was able to enjoy being outside with her!
We will be sure to post ultrasound pictures in a couple of weeks!