22 down, 10 to go!

Pounds, that is. I went to the doctor yesterday to follow-up on my high blood pressure (more on that later) and hopped up on the scale to see that I"m only 10 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. That makes a happy Jen. Somewhere around Thanksgiving, also known as the last day of my pregnancy where I felt ok, I decided I would never lose my baby weight. I have no idea why I believed this. Anyway, I'm happy it's coming off. I still have a little tummy pooch around my scar, but I see real jeans in my near future! My wedding ring and socks fit again, so that will do fine for now.

Mr. Dean continues to keep us on our toes. And by that I mean awake from 1:30-4am. I took the "Late shift" last night and it was a marathon of feeding, rocking, diaper changes, singing and an episode of "Unwrapped" on Food TV that taught us some fascinating facts about eggs. My doctor is pretty sure my lack of sleep is adding to my lingering hypertension. Tomorrow, I'll have blood work done and on Monday, a renal ultrasound. Given my family history of polycystic kidneys, we've got to rule that out.

Today my friend Betsy came over to meet Dean. Before she arrived, I changed his diaper and brought him into the bedroom to change his outfit. I got him all dressed, then scooped him up only to discover that his entire back was soaked. And so was my bed. He gets angry when you take his clothes off, so I guess piddling on my side of the bed was his revenge. Of course, he didn't realize that this meant I'd have to change his outfit AGAIN... Poor little guy. Check out the picture above of him doing a crazy baby yoga pose after sprinkling the big bed. Babies are super flexible!

Best week ever

Well, we've lived through week one with a newborn! It's been an ongoing adventure, leaving us a little sleep-deprived, the sink pretty full of dishes and the house a little messy... but very, very happy. In the interest of time (because Mr. Dean could wake up any second demanding undivided attention...which he will certainly get!), I"ll run down the highlights for you in bullet form!
*Our first night away from Daddy. Marcus had to go to Alabama this Sunday and Monday, so Aunt Kitty stayed with Dean and me. She was amazing at taking care of both of us.
*Gas, gas and more gas. Who knew a tiny body could hold that much gas? And it keeps hitting him at 1am! Fortunately, our pediatrician had some excellent advice on how to get rid of said gas, so we're much happier now.
*Our first night of sleep last night, thanks to the Fisher Price Rainforest swing! Thank you, Jesus, for the Fisher Price Rainforest swing!
*Dean's umbilical cord stump fell off Monday, leaving him with quite the cute belly button. (it's an innie) Which led to...
*Dean's first tub bath. Which he hated. With a passion. See picture above of him screaming as we dried him off. But he smells better now.
*Watching this little person discover the world. It's so much fun to watch him follow sights and sounds. He has such a calm personality already. (Good thing...his name means "Calming.")
*Falling completely and totally in love with my husband all over again. I knew Marcus would be a wonderful dad, but his instincts with Dean are amazing. He's so good with him, whether it's changing a stinky diaper or rocking him back to sleep at 3 am. And he has taken exquisite care of me after my surgery. We have always prided ourselves for having such a strong connection as a couple and a deep mutual respect for one another as individuals, but nothing could have prepared us for how much closer having a child would bring us. What a wonderful feeling.
*Recovery from c-section . Not fun. I managed to pull a muscle in my back, so that's added a new level of discomfort to things. Until last night, I actually had to sleep on top of my pregnancy body pillow with a fort of pillows all around me just so I wouldn't have muscle spasms. I'm trying so hard to stay off the percocet and just manage the pain with tylenol. Percocet makes me goofy and hurts my stomach. I go to the dr. tomorrow, so maybe he'll have some suggestions.
*Shock and utter disbelief at how fast the pregnancy weight seems to be falling off! I look smaller than I did when we left West Virginia in my 18th week of pregnancy! My stomach is kind of a weird gelatinous blob at the bottom, topped off by my scar, which is still covered in steri-strips and looks like a big smile, but I don't even remotely look pregnant anymore. I can't wait to see how much I weigh tomorrow.
*My feet are still swollen. Gr.
*The real highlight has been realizing that our son is finally here in our arms to stay and we have a lifetime of laughs, kisses, smiles and love to share with him. It's even better than we imagined. :)

To know him is to love him...

And we do!!! Please allow us to introduce Mr. Dean Nelson Lane, born Saturday, January 5 (a mere 3 weeks early!), weighing in at 6 lbs. 13 oz. and measuring 18 1/2 inches long. After waking up feeling not so hot on Friday, we showed up for our routine 36 week appointment at Dr. Moritz's office, where they took one look at Jen (especially her swollen feet, ankles, hands and face) and another at her blood pressure and sent us promptly to the hospital! We were in triage by noon being screened for pre-eclampsia. By 2:00, the contractions were 5 minutes apart. At 7:00, we were admitted to a room where the contractions got MUCH stronger. Around 8:30, Demerol was administered, and Morphine after that wore off. At 10:30 they announced we weren't leaving without a baby and started induction with cervidal, a gel to get things moving. Boy, does it work! We went from 3 to 8 centimeters in an hour, then held steady at 9 cm for almost 5 hours. 5 miserable hours. Then the epidural man came. (Insert love for epidural man here :):):) ) Around 2:00 Saturday afternoon, it was decided that progress was stuck and the blood pressure problem was not going away, so to the OR we went for a c-section, where Dean joined us at 2:40pm. While Mommy headed off to recovery, Daddy and the Lane Grandparents followed baby Dean over to NICU, where he spent his entire hospital stay. Since he was early, Mom didn't get to do her Group B Strep Test during pregnancy, so he had to have antibiotics and also had to be observed for a little fluid in his lungs. But three short days later, here we are! We're sore, tired and a little gassy, but we're home. Dean is certainly living up to his nickname "Baby Awesome." And we're a family of three. There's nothing sweeter.

Gotta find a new movie candy now

To answer the question posed by the t-shirt, no, you don't. :)

The bassinet has been assembled. Extra sheets have been special ordered. (Because the people at Disney make it so you can't just buy them at Target--you have to CALL and order them!) The baby clothes are washed, folded and hung and put in their place. Baby's shelves are full of books, bibs, burp towels and tiny little washcloths. There's food in the freezer. If I prop my feet up any higher, I'll be hanging from the ceiling. Can I have my baby now?

Warning: this part contains some kind of personal information, which leads to a really funny story. Hope it doesn't make anyone uncomfortable. I have no modesty, so here we go. I woke up New Year's Eve feeling kinda funky with a sore spot on my left side kind of below my arm pit. (where underwire would hit you) It was worse yesterday when I woke up, so I got online to do some research about just what the heck it could be. I figured it out pretty quickly: I had a clogged milk duct. That can actually happen from your 6th month of pregnancy! So, it's New Year's Day. My doctor is on vacation until Jan. 2, but their answering service should be picking up. I call. The lady answers and sounds professional enough, asking my date of birth and what week of pregnancy I'm in. I then explain that I think I have a clogged milk duct and need some advice on how to treat it so it doesn't turn into an infection. She says "Okaaaaaaay, so you have a clogged milk dud?" (enter glare from Jen here) No, moron. DUCT. DUUUUUUUCT. I spell it for her. She says "ooooooh. okaaaaay. I'll get someone to call you." No one ever did, probably because she told the doctor on-call that I had a clogged milk dud and they didn't want to deal with someone that stupid on a holiday. Fortunately, my sister in law is also a nurse and mother of a one-year-old, so I called her and got some advice last night. And my milk dud is good as new today. I can't wait to tell the doctor this story when we see him on Friday.

Best of 2007

A personal top 10 list, in no particular order.

10. Forging a relationship with Theatre West Virginia, where Marcus and I hope to spend many happy summers.

9. Turning 30. What a great age.

8. Being married to Marcus. What a great gig.

7. Finding out we were expecting.

6. Re-connecting with a ton of people from my past.

5. Every single kick, squirm, hiccup and wiggle from the baby in my belly. I can't believe how much I already love this kid. Pregnancy is the greatest adventure I've ever been on.

4. The birth of our nephew, Adam. What a sweetheart! It's been so much fun watching him grow this year.

3. Getting to watch football this fall! Of course that was mainly because I was kind of unemployed, but still a good thing. :)

2. My mom's kidney transplant. Wow.

1. Knowing that we are DAYS away from meeting our baby. That is awesome.

Happy new year, everyone!

Are we there yet?

So, I got a pedicure. Finally. And it was heavenly. Marcus mentioned last night, when I said I planned to go today, that I should make sure they loofa'd my heels. It was getting out of hand. I can't even put my own socks on, so you can imagine that my footcare routine is not what it used to be. Anyway, now my feet won't scare my child if they're the first things he/she sees at birth. We also went to the big grocery store in the car today. (A big deal in NYC) Somewhere between Marcus buying a giant thing of chow mein noodles and me throwing enough cans of tomato soup into the buggy to get us through a nuclear disaster, I realized we were stocking up on the food we'll eat when we bring our baby home from the hospital. And I almost freaked out in the Pathmark. Fortunately, Marcus was able to distract me with sugar cookie mix, so there wasn't a meltdown or anything. I keep expecting to go into labor today for some reason. I am four weeks from my due date. (Still don't think we'll make it.) Sometimes it hits me that in just a few short days, we will go to the hospital where they will take our child out of my body, then give it to Marcus and me to bring home and raise. I keep asking Marcus if this freaks him out. Calm as ever, he says no, but he could certainly freak out if I'd like him to. I think I've got that area covered.

Let's talk about how CUTE said baby is gonna be cheering for the Crimson Tide next year! (See photo above of adorable Baby Bama ensemble.) Cap courtesy of Grammy Jenny (my dad says it's child abuse--he's a die-hard, bleeds-red-and-blue Ole Miss fan!), Bama binky, onesie and book courtesy of Meredith and Ms. Kay. All we need is a pom pom.

The final countdown!

Let's begin by looking at the pictures. One is of Adam modeling his "My first Christmas" bib. Adorable. (he's 11 months old and 26 pounds now, by the way!) The other is Marcus and me by his mom's tree. Just call me Biggie Smalls. :)

We got back from DC yesterday bearing Christmas and baby prizes. So now we have a bassinet to assemble, little clothes to unpack and lots of other stuff to put in its place. I can't believe the next time we see our families it will be to show them our baby! I feel like I've been pregnant forever, but a part of me also can't believe it's almost over. (And my almost over I mean MAN, I hope we don't go all the way to our Jan. 27 projected due date!!!) I keep waiting for the baby to drop. For all I know, it could have already happened, though I can't really breathe, so I don't think it has. I have a feeling when dropping occurs, my belly will be down to my knees, making life even more interesting than it already is! Poor Marcus has to put my socks and shoes on me. He really is a saint.

Christmas was good. We ate a lot, visited with the family, ate some more, enjoyed being out of the city, then ate some more. Marcus racked up a whole new wardrobe, in which he will look quite sassy. Adam was fun. He has been sick, so his energy was a little low. He got a TON of presents, but was most interested in his plastic bowl and spoon. He also became quite fond of the Snack Trap. If you have small children, run don't walk to get yourself some snack traps! I got one as a gift from The View and they are fantastic! The kid can't spill the snacks! And they have really cute designs on them. Adam is partial to the blue penguin.

My mom continues to do well. She and my dad are chillin' in the townhouse, unless they are at a doctor's appointment or the lab. Yesterday they went to Starbuck's to check email. I can't tell you how wonderful it is to hear her sound so great after her surgery. What an amazing blessing.

Well, since the dish fairy is obviously not going to come and clean up my kitchen today, I'd better get on it. Hope everyone has a great weekend!