He's here!
For those of you interested in the gory details of the 14.5-hour long unmedicated labor and delivery of our baby, I will be posting our birth story soon, so check back to this link.

Also, be sure to check out the latest photos of Baby Reid...

Reid's Birthday

Reid's First Days

Did we mention he's hairy?
Like father, like son. :)

INTRODUCING...
Baby W (no name yet), born at 4:30pm on 8/20, weighing in at 8 lbs 7.2 oz, measuring 21.5 inches!

Two days past due date
Topic: Baby
I think I started having contractions last night. They were difficult to time because I couldn’t really determine when they were starting or stopping. Took a hot bath/shower. Got to bed at about midnight. Woke up at 5 this morning with what felt like cramps. They were very intense. Colby and I took a walk outside and practiced some of the Bradley relaxation stuff. We called Labor and Delivery to try to find out if the cramping is normal, since it wasn’t really like a starting/stopping contraction like I had expected. After talking for a bit, we’ve determined that I am probably experiencing early signs of labor. We’ve called our moms and are now counting baby kicks to reassure the nurse and us of Baby’s health. It’s about 6:45 am now and, after some juice and an omelet that Colby made me, Baby is kicking away and we’re trying to time what could be contractions…

11am: Things have come to a stop. Cramping/contractions let up and I've been catching up on sleep. Hopefully things will get moving again soon.

Week 40 (Estimated Due Date)
Topic: Baby
Today’s the due date and still no sign of Baby. At our doc appt today we were told that they are going to want to induce at a week and a half past the due date. We’re really hoping that it won’t come to that because artificially induced labors are usually more intense and more difficult to manage unmedicated than naturally induced labors. Colby and I are asking friends and family to pray for things to happen this weekend because one of the midwives, whom we’ve seem a couple times and really, really like will be on duty. =)

Week 40
Topic: Baby
We've been having weekly doc appointments. Last week we were informed that I am one of 30% of women who is Group B Strep positive, meaning I am a "colonizer" of a kind of bacteria that an be harmful to the baby during birth. They assured us that it's nothing to worry about now that we are aware of it. To prevent Baby from contracting this bacteria during birth, they want to put me on penacilin (sp?) as soon as my water breaks for 15 minutes every 4 hours. Since we are aspiring towards a non-medicated birth, it is important to us that I have as much mobility as possible, which is why I requested not to have an IV in our birth plan, but it is a small sacrifice to make for a healthy baby.

Anyway, we're hoping to be able to labor in the comfort of our own home as long as possible, so please pray that my water doesn't break early in labor (so we don't have to go in to the hospital right away to get hooked up to the IV) and also that I go into labor before the beginning of September, otherwise they're going to want to schedule an induction, which will almost for sure lead down the spiral of medication (artificially induced labors are much more painful than naturally induced labors, and are therefore much more difficult to manage without pain medication and can probably more likely lead to a C-section).

On the bright side, Colby was shown by one of the midwives today how to feel around my belly to determine Baby's position. You should have seen his face when he flet the ball-shape of baby's head! =)

Week 39
Now that the nursery is finished, I've let Baby know that s/he can come join us now. =)

...And a couple belly pics for your viewing pleasure:

Week 38
Topic: Baby
Lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions lately. It could be the heat or it could be my body prepping for the real deal! Everything's almost all in place for Baby W. I'm pre-washing baby clothes and blankets as I type. Got the car seat strapped in and ready to go... I can almost picture our little one in there already!

I spent a few hours yesterday, bottle-feeding an abandoned, couple-day-old kitten. While I was sitting with both hands occupied, I became aware of the fact that I was unable to eat drink or pee for an undetermined amount of time... and of course I was needing to do all three. I realized then that I was being given a sneak peek of what I'm in for as an expectant mommy. =)

Week 37
Topic: Baby
Today's the first day of week 37, which I believe means our baby is now considered "full-term," which basically means... ANY DAY NOW! I've been doing some super-shopping to get those last final necessities for Baby W's first weeks of life. Colby and I are so excited. I can't wait to find out if we have a son or a daughter in there!!! For the most part, we're feeling prepared. We've submitted our birth plan to our Nurse Practitioner and she, like the Kaiser midwives, was very supportive of our desire for a non-medicated, low-intervention birth. We've also taken a tour of the Kaiser Walnut Creek facility and even had the opportunity to sit with the instructor to get a series of questions I had pending answered. What a relief!

At my last doc appointment on Wednesday, we learned that baby is still head-down (good to know!) and mom has gained a whopping 40 pounds since joining the prego club! I'm almost all belly, but it's still bizarre to watch the nurse continually nudge the weights on the scale to the right, if you know what I mean!

Week 36
Topic: Baby
Today marks the beginning of week 36, which means only 5 more weeks until our estimated due date (8/17). Today's also a day I hold close to my heart, as it marks the first day of my last week of work! =)

To prepare for the big day, which could realisticly be ANY day now, Colby and I have been shopping for furniture, taking newborn care classes and continuing our Bradley classes. We've got a tour of the Walnut Creek Kaiser facility scheduled for tonight as well.

I've attached some pictures below for your viewing enjoyment. And, in case you haven't noticed, there are links to some new photo albums posted on the main page (i.e. Hawaii, Capitola, Baby BBQ & Wine-Tasting).

(Click HERE to return to the main page)

Here's Colby practicing diapering & swaddling on our creepy doll at the newborn care class.

And here are a couple recent belly pictures (week 33):