Visit from Grandma

My mom got here last night and we spent the day hanging out with Harper. We are very excited to have her here and, since Tom starts finals tomorrow, it is going to be great to have some help. Here are some photos we took earlier today of Harper in a cute new dress that my mom brought for her.

We took Harper back to the pediatrician this morning and she has gained a couple of ounces back, so we were really happy. She's still more interested in sleeping than eating most of the time, and I actually have to set an alarm at night so I can wake her up to eat, but she's becoming more alert every day. Here are a few photos from the last couple days.
Tom and Harper studying together again.

Tom's new study buddy

Tom has been wonderful about helping out with Harper over the last few days. He is adorable with her. Unfortunately, he has finals next week and is supposed to be spending most of the day studying. He compromised by making Harper his new study buddy. Aren't they cute?
Here's one of Tom pretending to be asleep while holding Harper:
Here's a couple of Harper in her pack 'n play. She loves to be swaddled. Tom calls her our little glow worm.

And here's her birth announcement. I sent this out via email today, but I don't have very many people's email addresses in my contact list so I'm sure I missed a bunch of people.

Friday update

We survived our first night at home. Harper is doing great. She had her first pediatrician's appointment this morning and is down a little in weight and is a little jaundiced, so she just needs to eat a lot over the weekend and we're going back on Monday to get her checked out again. She has started to be more alert now and we can't get enough of her. Here are a few photos from yesterday afternoon and today

Waiting to get discharged from the hospital
Trying to eat her hand (one of her favorite activities)
Here are a couple of Harper hanging out in her swing for the first time:

home at last

We made it home from the hospital where things are so much nicer. That little room Erica was in was a little cramped. And I was getting tired of the 30 min trip each way. After discovering that the little toot we heard on the way home in the car was in fact Hiroshima, and then going through half a box of wipes to clean things up, everyone is a happy camper. Now we have so much time to sit and contemplate things...things like, what have we gotten ourselves into?!?!?!?!?!?!?


Harper isn't sure she signed up for this guy.

a few more

a post from the hospital

Tom brought my laptop up to the hospital so I thought I'd post a couple pictures while Harper is napping. I am most likely going to leave the hospital sometime tomorrow because I am feeling pretty well. I've been up and walking since last night and it would be really nice to sleep in my own bed.

Both of these photos are from yesterday. We'll take some more tonight, but I'm exhausted and haven't taken any today. Tom has spent most of the day at the hospital with me, but just headed home to take care of some stuff and get some studying done and is going to come back tonight.


Harper is wonderful. She is very curious and loves to stare at everyone's faces. She has been pretty sleepy, but is starting to become a little more active. I think that she looks a lot like my sister Kara did when she was a baby, but we'll have to see how she looks when the swelling goes down a little more. We'll try to post some more photos tonight.

you know you want more

My parent's came down to visit for a few hours today, which was very nice. They are lucky they live so close to the greatest grandchild ever known to mankind. Also, Erica now has about half as many cables and needles sticking into her as she did earlier in the day. She's on the road to recovery. And Harper is the sweetest little angel baby. She is content to lay peacefully until she starts wiggling around looking for a food source. We're hoping one day she does more interesting stuff like turn her head and smile. For now we are enjoying her sweet spirit.

Grandma and Grandpa add another notch on the belt:


Erica pretends to get some sleep for the camera.

BABY TIME

So we made an appointment to do the C-Section today, April 22nd, at 8AM. This is 6 days prior to Harper Grace Jackman's due date (OOOPS, DID I SAY HARPER GRACE JACKMAN??!?!??!?) We got everything ready last night and the plan was to get up at 5AM and get to the hospital in time for our 6AM check in. Of course, baby Harper had other plans. Erica has been having some contractions since Saturday and around 3AM she got out of bed because they were getting stronger and more frequent, to the point where it was keeping her up. At 4:10 her water broke, on our highly fluid resistant leather couch (THANK GOODNESS). It was odd to rush to the hospital, but at the same time just grab all of our stuff which was already packed. By the time we got there Erica had dilated to 5cm. The hospital staff was like, GET THIS BABY OUT. So they did. Check out some sweet photos below. Video and more photos possibly coming up later today and/or tomorrow. For now, admire at how amazingly beautiful and hairy our little girl is (8 lbs. 1 oz | 20"):

new sit-com coming out this tuesday!

So I've had this weird sensation that's been building lately. Being the youngest I never actually saw any of my siblings get born. Actually, I've never even been in the presence of a child birthing process or seen a newly minted baby (although I think we heard the screams of a woman in labor when we at the hospital a few weeks ago for the baby flipping attempt).
This compares with the fact that I've seen babies being born on TV (sadly) dozens of times, in every form, fashion, and setting imaginable. There is something about the highly manipulated presentation you get when you watch something on television (or in a movie) that completely distances you from the thing which is occurring. I mean, if I actually saw someone get hit by a car I hope it would get more out of me than a brief grimace.
So here I am about to experience this massively massive event for myself and I'm not even sure how I'm supposed to feel. Like that one guy from that one show or that other guy from that other show? I'm sure the feelings will take care of themselves on the appointed day, but standing in the way of them are all the experiences of those I've seen faked or manipulated, making it hard for me just let the day happen. It's almost like I'm staring in an episode of "The World of Tom" and while I may be the director, I have all these previous shows I've seen telling how I should "shoot" the show.

Erica Is Alone In The Pain Department Again

After receiving some crazy treatment for my weird chest pain (read: ibuprofen), I awoke this morning to discover only a small reminder of the discomfort I was in yesterday. YEAH!

Ouch me too! Tom Suffers Sympathy Pain

So I woke up this morning about 2 hours before I normally do sleeping on my back. I was a little stiff and sore in that position and it felt like I hadn't turned naturally for awhile so I just kinda rolled left. Or at least I tried to. After only lifting my right shoulder a few inches I was rewarded with a very sharp pain underneath my left pectoral muscle. Laying still on my back resulted in the pain subsiding but any attempts at turning to my side quickly brought back the sharp pain, something along the lines of someone stabbing me with a pen. After a while of dozing in and out of sleep and reminding myself of the pain in my chest by trying to roll over again it occurred to me that something wasn't quite right.
I woke up and called my Dad (a physical therapist) and he informed me that I was most likely suffering from a dislodged something or other. Hey it was early, my mind takes about 6 hours before I really start grasping the world around me. Long story somewhat short the best case scenario is that I take it easy and hurt bad for a day or so. Worst case scenario I have to get some medical attention to correct whatever is dislodged (something to do with your rib cage and some tenuous connections to your spinal cord that can move a bit, resulting in exactly what I'm experiencing). The up side of this is now Erica isn't the only one who can complain about being in severe discomfort. Neither of us can easily get up from a sitting position and we are both hobbling around and moaning about aches and pains like a somewhat older couple (I know this topic is a sensitive one to some of our readership). Hopefully my body goes with option A and things get better quick, because I hear hospital chairs are far from an ergonomic nirvana.

Ouch

My feet are swollen. I whined about them being swollen a few weeks ago, but it has gotten worse. Notice from this picture that I no longer have ankles:
Sorry, I know you don't want to see my ugly feet, but I need to share my pain. Tom took this picture the other day when I got home from work. Normally I have what I refer to as ugly step-sister feet (they are long and skinny), but for the last week they have looked like this (or worse) every day. Ouch. It is a good thing I wear comfortable shoes.

Here is an updated 38 week photo. I had my last doctor's appointment yesterday and I had gained more weight in a week than I thought was physically possible (although I think some of that can be blamed on the swelling). Scary.

We are still on for the c-section on the 22nd so it looks like we're going to have an Earth Day baby. The c-section is scheduled for 8am. I'm not sure what the internet situation is going to be in the hospital, but we will try to get some photos up sometime on Tuesday. We have made a bit of a naming breakthrough. We now have a short list of names, but it may take us a day or so to decide. I am SO excited. I just have to make it through one more day of work and clean the house this weekend, but that is easier said than done.

By the way, I was just going through some stuff and we have two free passes to either the San Diego Zoo or the San Diego Animal Park if anyone wants them. They expire on 4/30 so you'd have to use them pretty quickly. I would gladly send them or bring them to anyone who could use them. There are also two coupons for $5 off an adult ticket or $3 of a child ticket which also expire on 4/30.

misc pictures from tom's camera

When I uploaded the pictures from the shower onto my computer, there were some other random photos on Tom's camera that I thought I'd share. We got a new camera the other day so we can take better pictures of the baby and Tom has been practicing by taking lots of photos.

This is a picture of our car in our garage. It barely fits. In fact, I have to get out of the car before Tom pulls it in because there isn't enough room to open the doors on both sides.
Here's a photo of me eating pizza at Costco. This is something that we probably do a little too often . . . It's not really the pizza that is so tempting, it's the frozen yogurt that I always get with the pizza. Yum.

Over the last few months Tom and some friends have gotten together at our apartment to play video games every week or two (and sometimes during the day while I am at work). It has been really fun for Tom and I'm glad that he has gotten to take advantage of this time before the baby is born. Actually, this week is the last time this will happen for a while so we'll have to take more pictures. Here is a picture of a couple of his friends taken while I was slaving away at work:
Tom and I are both really bothered by the number of people that steal grocery carts to bring their groceries home. They are all over the neighborhood. Every time we go for a walk we probably see a dozen or so carts scattered around the neighborhood. Here's one by the gate to our apartment complex:
And just because I think he's cute, here's a picture of Tom that I took the other day when we were playing around with his camera.

baby shower

I had a fantastic time at my baby shower last night. I was really surprised at how many people came, thanks so much to everyone. I just wish I had taken more pictures. Here's a couple that Tom took before the shower:

I look HUGE in that second picture. However, I realized the other day that even at 37 weeks pregnant I still weigh about 5 pounds less than I weighed after my freshman year of college.

My wonderful friend Ashley actually made the cake (Thank you!). It was beautiful and delicious :)

TWO WEEKS!

You may notice a slight change in the countdown to the right. I just got back from my weekly appointment and we scheduled the c-section for April 22nd at 8am. That is two weeks from today. For my entire pregnancy the midwife kept telling me that I would likely be at least a week late, so mentally I was preparing for early May, but April 22nd is basically a week early so I am kind of freaking out right now.

On the bright side, my wonderful friends Emily and Betsey are throwing a shower for me tomorrow night and I am really excited. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends :)

humor

Tom has a peel-off calendar with lawyer humor that he received from his mom for Christmas this last year. As we were cleaning up the man-baby room earlier, we looked through several pages and came across this quote from Jon Stewart that we thought was pretty funny:

"Some scholars have argued [that] the Constitution clearly states only Congress can declare war, and they are not allowed to simply delegate that authority to the president. However, you can get around that with the legal technique of taking the word constitution and adding the word shmonstitution to the end of it."

failure :(

Well, Tom and I spent most of the day at the hospital. We got there at 8 and the version was supposed to be at 9, but the doctor had to do an emergency c-section on someone and then we had to wait for the anesthesia department to be on call in case we needed them, so we didn't leave the hospital until almost 3 this afternoon. Unfortunately, they were unable to get the baby to turn. They tried for about 10 minutes and I have to say, it was pretty disturbingly painful. The doctor said to expect some pretty major bruising on my abdomen. Thank goodness Tom was there with me. I had been warned that it would be uncomfortable, but more than that the idea of someone pushing that hard on my stomach was horrible. I am glad that we gave it a try, but the doctor said that for a variety of reasons I am not really a good candidate for the version in the first place (this is my first pregnancy, my amniotic fluid levels are on the low side of normal, and the placenta is anterior).

So now my options are to either schedule a c-section or to wait until I go into labor and have a c-section done. I am pretty sure that I am going to schedule the c-section since I really liked the doctor who attempted the version and I would like to have him do the c-section (I have been seeing midwives so now I have to switch to a doctor). I am trying to look on the bright side of things, but overall am still pretty upset about everything. I know it will still probably be okay and this isn't the end of the world, but that doesn't mean that I can't be ornery about it.

In other news, I completely forgot to mention that last week was our second anniversary. We spent a lovely evening together and enjoyed some pizza and frozen yogurt from Costco. The last two years have been amazing and I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband :)