He's here!!!

James Strutton Todd arrived Sunday, November 9th, at 6:00 pm on the dot! He is a beautiful and healthy baby, weighing in at 9 lbs, 14 ozs and measuring 20.5 inches. 

He looks and sounds very much like his big sister Claire, who has taken to calling him "doll". In the pictures below, James is the top picture and Claire is the bottom one. 

Early labor started late Saturday night and we went to the hospital late morning on Sunday. His birth was a really beautiful and peaceful experience, kind of what you'd expect from a baby arriving on a lazy November Sunday. 

We are totally in love with this precious little blessing. We are really enjoying adjusting to life as a family of four! There have been a few challenging moments, but overall we're just treasuring this special time with all four of us at home, tucked away from the bitter cold outside. I'm so in love with my little family.

More to come!!!

39 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: Another week, another pound. Up 31 total.

Size of Baby: Baby James is the size of a mini-watermelon.

Sleep: I don't want to jinx anything but the time change seems to have totally reset my internal clock for the better. I'm going to bed earlier and waking up earlier on my own, instead of dragging myself out of bed in the mornings.

Movement: Yep!

Cravings: I am just hungry! For everything!

Gender: It's still a boy...James.

Mood: I've been a little down and discouraged the last few days. We thought things might be starting to happen over the weekend and when they didn't, I felt let down. Then I was convinced there'd be signs of change yesterday at my appointment, but nope! I think the waiting game is just getting to me. Also, I found out yesterday morning that my grandmother is in the hospital and not doing well. She's 91 and very, very weak. She's dealing with very low blood pressure (80/40!) and low potassium, and weighs 75 lbs. Hopefully the fluids and medications they're giving her can help her perk up. Obviously the timing of all of this makes it a bittersweet time for my family. 

Symptoms: I had my weekly check-up yesterday and I'm still 1 cm dilated, just like 2 weeks ago. I'm pretty surprised, because I don't think this kid could possibly be sitting any lower than he is right now. I'm slightly more effaced, about 70%. My doctor tried to strip my membranes today, but my cervix was too posterior. She encouraged me by saying that this stuff means nothing and can change in an instant! 

Still having the same end-of-pregnancy symptoms: very uncomfortable, swelling, lots of aches and pains. There are times when I feel relatively good and then I'll just feel terrible, especially as the day goes on. I'll have random sets of contractions (not sure if they're the real thing or more Braxton Hicks). Last week I tried to time them, but it was difficult, and with time, water, and activity, they went away. Saturday I felt awful all day...my stomach was upset and then in the afternoon I got a really bad headache. I rarely get headaches when I'm pregnant and my doctor always warns me about if they don't go away with Tylenol because that can be a sign of pre-eclampsia, so I took notice. When it didn't completely go away with Tylenol, I borrowed my sister's blood pressure machine and started checking. Later I spoke to the on-call doctor, just to be safe. When I told her my blood pressure, she wasn't at all concerned. By then, the headache had moved into my sinuses, so I was pretty sure it was my allergies rearing their ugly head...ugh! To finish out the day, late evening I started having really bad cramps. As they went on I was convinced this could very well be early labor. Cam and I decided to try to go to sleep and see if things continued. I slept all night and woke up to no pain. 

I had another headache on Monday that didn't go away with Tylenol and one of my blood pressure readings climbed into the range of concern, but then immediately went back down. When I took a second larger dose of Tylenol that evening, the headache went away. I think I just needed 3 pills instead of 2! I talked to my doctor about it at my appointment the next morning. I'm not really showing any signs of pre-eclampsia and if I did have it, that one high reading I got wouldn't go right back down like it did...it would stay up. So I'll keep an eye on my blood pressure, but don't have any real reason for concern. 

The new and very uncomfortable symptom I'm having is that the lovely stretch marks on my stomach have become very inflamed! Up until recently, these stretch marks had been just an unsightly annoyance, but now they literally looks like bright red raised welts! It is driving me crazy and making me feel like I'm going to itch my skin off! Lotion and hydrocortisone cream help, but I think I won't get true relief until this baby boy decides to make his exit!

We should just change that entire section to "complaints and things you'd like to bitch about"...haha! Sorry, I guess it's just the nature of the beast at this stage in pregnancy. I'm trying to remind myself that things were much, much worse at this point in my last pregnancy! It usually helps me regain some much-needed perspective. 

Milestones: Reaching 39 weeks! 39 weeks is the new 37 weeks...the milestone doctors really want you to reach. Despite all my moaning about being uncomfortable and wishing labor would happen, I do recognize that I'm incredibly lucky to get to carry my baby to term. 

Best Moment this Week: Cam got some great news at work...he's being promoted and hired on by Dell for a permanent position! He's been a contract employee at Dell up until now. This is huge for Cam and such a blessing for our growing family. I seriously couldn't be prouder of my husband...he is amazing!!! 

What I'm Looking Forward to: I want to meet my baby boy...he is the sweet and perfect prize at the finish line, and I just can't wait to hold him!