Meet Sophia Amber Alexander, our little angel

Sophia was born at 11:27 PM on May 14. A truly awesome Mother's Day present.

Weight: 8 lbs 13 oz
Length: 21 in
Apgar Score: 9/9
Hair: Full head of dark brown hair
Eyes: Blue for now
Digits: 10 fingers and 10 toes. Her second toe is longer than the big toe. Her ring finger is longer than her index finger.
Interests include: sleeping and eating. Will is certain she likes quantum mechanics and Linux and dogs.

A future Nobel Prize Winner according to Dad.

We're on our way to the hospital

My water broke shortly after midnight. I'm still not contracting, but at least the process has started. :) Yea!!!!

Will got about an hour of sleep. I couldn't. Every time I shut my eyes my mind started racing.

So, it seems like Sophia will be born on Mother's Day. What a wonderful present. :)

Stay tuned.

4 days overdue

hmmm.....at this point I'm beginning to think that I'm never going to go into labor. I'm open to all tips at this time. If you have a secret weapon to start labor, let me know. I've been eating a ton of fresh pineapple. I heard that helps, but no luck yet.

We're taking Sadie to the K-9 Carnival today at the dog park and I'm hoping that I will run into our birthing class instructor since I've seen her there before. I want to see if she has any tips for me.

Since tonight there is a full moon, Will is predicting today will be the day. Maybe I'll get lucky!

Update on mom and baby! 3 days overdue now

I had my doctor appointment yesterday. Surprise surprise - I have made no additional progress. I'm still 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. My blood pressure was borderline high and there was a trace of protein in my urine. Those 2 things coupled with the excessive swelling that I have could be leading to toxemia which means that the baby's oxygen supply can become compromised. The doc did not officially diagnose toxemia, but said that I could be developing it.

The doc did a non-stress test on Sophia by having me lay down for about 30 minutes and they monitored her heartrate, movement and the contractions that my uterus had. Everything checked out ok. Movements were great and Sophia's heartrate was between 145 and 175 the entire time (which is fantastic). :) I was slightly scared because the doc said that if the test didn't turn out ok she was going to send me straight to the hospital to be induced. As it turns out I got to come home to a nice surprise. Will came home early because he hadn't heard from me after my doc appointment. He basically put me on "rest" for the rest of the day.

As it turns out - I have to go back to the doctor on Monday afternoon to be checked again and the induction has been scheduled for Wednesday of next week. So, if Sophia doesn't arrive before Wednesday, we'll be going to the hospital at 7:00 AM. In the meantime, I have to watch out for blurred vision, headaches, difficulty breathing and sudden swelling in my hands and face. If any of these symptoms occur then we're supposed to go call the doc and go right away to be checked. Unfortunately, I KNEW this was coming because I've been swelling for a month and my blood pressure has been getting slightly more elevated each time I've gone to the doc in the last month (but it was never in the danger zone until yesterday). It's so amazing to me that it took the OBs sooo long to come to the same conclusion.

Regardless....the baby is definitely considered full term and I carried her to full term without the toxemia problem. Now, when is this little girl going to arrive?????

May 11th

Today is May 11th. We're 2 days past our due date. Mike, Will's brother, put all his money on today as Sophia's birthday. Considering that I just took Sadie for a walk and am about to head out to a doctor appointment, I don't think Mike hit the jackpot.

However, the day is not over and hopefully I'll go into labor today.

Here are the other predictions on her birthday:
May 12th - Grancy (Will's mom)
May 13,14,15 - My mom
May 13 (Because it's a full moon) - Will
Last weekend (Totally convinced) - Me
Yesterday (Kind of convinced) - Me
Today (Hopeful)- Me
Tomorrow (Praying) - Me
May 17 (The day I will pick to be induced if I get to choose) - Me

Sophia is a day late

This morning I was thinking that now Sophia will have a double-digit birthday. Oh well. Her mom and dad both have double-digit days too.

Here are some pictures of her nursery. Now we just need a baby to put in it. :)

Well, today is/was my due date

It's no wonder they call them estimated due dates. :) Baby Sophia is moving and kicking, but doesn't want to come out and meet us yet. I'm now thinking she'll arrive on Friday the 12th. We'll see. Stay tuned for the big announcement that she's coming!

Just for the record - I was 11 days late and Will was 3 weeks early.

Due date is tomorrow

Tomorrow is our due date. At this point I'm thinking it will pass without even a contraction. It's true that I have been having more and more Braxton Hicks contractions (mostly in the evenings after dinner), but they are not consistent nor regular.

I really believed that I would go into labor this past weekend. Deep down I had "that" feeling. I guess it must have been something else... I had the same feeling when we found out that I was pregnant. Deep down I just knew we would be having a girl and that turned out to be true...at least I hope so because if not we'll have the prettiest little boy in town dressed all in pink and purple.

Only 5% of women actually deliver on their due date. I'm willing to stick it out as long as it takes for Sophia to arrive naturally. At this point, I really don't want to consider an induction. I go to see the doctor again on Thursday so we'll see what they say. I know that I'll have to be induced if I still haven't delivered by the 19th. That day seems like next month to me at this point!

4 days until my due date

It's Friday...only 4 days until my due date and when I went to the doctor yesterday, I learned that I am STILL only 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. That's 2 full weeks without progress... So much for really hoping she would arrive early. At this point, I'm beginning to think that baby Sophia is hibernating! My next appointment is going to be Thursday of next week - 2 days after my due date. Hopefully I won't get to keep the appointment. :-)

My hands and feet are completely swollen and the doctor said there is really nothing I can do about it. My right hand is still numb and almost to the point where I can't use it. I had a hard time gripping onto the coffee pot this morning to pour coffee. EEK!

Overall, I've had a completely normal and very nice pregnancy. It's only been in the last 3 weeks that I've been uncomfortable so I really should not be complaining. Even Will commented that I will never be able to say to Sophia "I carried you around for 9 months" and use that against her. He said at most I'll only be able to say 1 month. hehehe It's crazy how much my belly skin is has stretched, when I look in the mirror I can see blue veins everywhere. Luckily I've avoided stretch marks, but I've slathered on tons cocoa butter cream for preventative measures.

It's finally May!

Today I flipped all of my calendars to the month of May. It made me smile to see that on each calendar I had marked May 9th as the baby's due date complete with stars and smiley faces. It's just around the corner now. Only 8 days away.

We're also half way through a gallon of milk that has a "sell by" expiration date of May 9th.

Some fun facts about the Month of May:

• Emerald = Birthstone of May


• Holidays = Cinco de Mayo, Mother's Day and Memorial Day


• Flower = Lily-of-the-Valley and Hawthorne


• Taurus (the Bull) = April 21 - May 21. Traditional
  Taurus Traits Are: Patient and reliable, Warmhearted and loving, Persistent and determined, Placid and security loving
  On the dark side....Jealous and possessive, Resentful and inflexible, Self-indulgent and greedy


• May is:
  Better Sleep Month
  Date Your Mate Month
  Healthy Baby Month
  Military Appreciation Month
  Physical Fitness and Sports Month
  Teach Appreciation Month
  Tennis Month
  National Asparagus Month
  National Barbeque Month
  National Egg Month
  National Gay Pride Month
  National Hamburger Month
  National Salad Month
  National Strawberry Month