lunch break

...our son, charlie

About this time last night, I realized I hadn't peed my pants. And off we went again to Labor and Delivery. (After having a very serious talk with Charmer about how important she is to us).

Four hours later, Charlie was born.

He is a month (exactly) early but came kicking and screaming into the world at 12:05 am. He is sweet and beautiful and perfectly tiny. I can't even explain how surreal the entire experience was - someday I will go into detail - but no one expects their first labor to progress like things did last night. And you certainly are never prepared for the reward at the end.

Be back with more. Until then, here's the little man, who now actually has a name:
Charles "Charlie" William Kurz, named for two great men - my Pop Pop and Ken's grandfather.

...it's the small things

...yesterday, I noticed that not only can I still see my toes in the shower, but when I got out I could still apply lotion to the bottom of my feet. 

I have been hiding from blogland after an embarrassing trip to Labor and Delivery the other day. I couldn't figure out a way to tell the story without sounding like an idiot, so I'm just not going to tell it. Let's just say it was a good practice run, and then they sent the idiot home.

And the doctor guessed last week that the little man is at least six pounds. Good thing she was doing the estimate because I would have guessed he was already over ten. ;)

...i say it best

 ...when I say nothing at all.

We're here. Just not much to talk about. Waiting. Feeling every bump and thinking it might be something more than a bump.

Hit 35 weeks today. The baby graduated from a cantaloupe to a honeydew melon. Last week's fruit reference sent me out to buy not one, not two, but three cantaloupes. Honeydew doesn't sound as tempting...

Charmer is resting. She took the doctor's orders very seriously.

...i would like you to meet my future daughter-in-law

...she is cute and sweet and peaceful and tiny. And some day, my little man is gonna love her. Or else.

Mercer's Babe. 04.19.09

...charmer says

...thanks for the new chair mom and dad!

...a relief

...to get this e-mail from babycenter.com today:

"Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long...If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies..."

A cantaloupe, huh. Cantaloupe Kurz. Kind of has a nice ring to it.

...your mom

...the phone rang today, and I answered it, slightly annoyed at being called away from my bagel, and the lady on the other end said, "Hi honey, is your mom home?"

What do you say?

"Umm, I am the mom."

"CHARMER! PHONE FOR YOU!"

...today, we rocked charmer's world

Poor girl. Today, we had a runner installed on our stairs for many, many reasons, one being that Charmer has taken quite a few spills down them in our three years here. And we will shortly be carrying an infant up and down them.

And I hate my voice. I swear I'm extra nasal these days because of the hormones. Who knew about that lovely side-effect of pregnancy?

ETA - She did eventually come up. And go down. And come back up again (she's snoring at the end of the bed as I type this).

...you know you've been home too many days in a row

...When you start getting excited to tell your husband about something that happened on the Price is Right that day. Is it me or does poor Drew Carey just not seem that into it? And do they still play the game where the mountain man climbs up the hill and you don't want him to fall off? Maybe I've just been in the bathroom and missed it.

Anyway.

Here we are. 33.52576 weeks. Approximately. Good news at the doctor on Thursday that the little guy hasn't progressed any further. We are still taking it easy until the 35-36 week mark, when the doctor will hopefully give us the all clear to resume "normal" activity - you know, my 10-mile a day run and cooking those 12-course meals I make. ;)

PS - Baby boy? You are totally worth the serious beer belly.

...the house is clean, the laundry is done

 ...All thanks to these two little angels. They didn't come in these costumes, unfortunately.

I really have issues letting go of my household duties (I would have carried the vacuum upstairs until 40 weeks if I could have), but Debbie and Devin swept in today, cleaned, did all the laundry, and even organized the pantry. We are lucky to have them in our lives.

The good news is that I went to the doc yesterday and the baby boy hasn't progressed anymore. We are still to take it easy until the 35-36 week point when she'll (hopefully) give us the all-clear to resume normal activity. Well, as normal as any activity can be for someone that pregnant.