Welcome to the world, sweet boy!

Everyone, meet Samson Porta! We finally found a first name that we both love. This little guy definitely looks like a Samson to us. We aren't sure if we will call him Sam or Samson or Sammy, but we love all three options. (We haven't picked a middle name yet.)



Dan and I are enjoying spending time with and getting to know our second son. He sure does look a lot like his big brother. He has the cutest little high-pitched squeal that he makes when he is unhappy or hungry. Yesterday and today he has gone between periods of wanting to eat constantly and wanting to sleep constantly. Unfortunately we haven't been able to time things right, so Dan and I haven't gotten to sleep much when he does.



I'm a lot more sore today than I was yesterday from the c-section, but I am able to get up and move around a tiny bit. All of my IVs/tubes are gone, and I've even been able to wear my own comfy clothes all day instead of those horrible gowns. We are thinking if everything continues to go smoothly that we will get sent home Monday morning.



Elijah (along with Grandma and Grandpa) stopped by to meet his little brother last night and he was extremely gentle and sweet with him. I don't think he fully understands that this little guy will be coming home with us for good, but soon that will become a reality. I miss Elijah terribly, but I'm trying to keep in mind that very soon we will all be home together as a family of four.



This has all been such a completely different and new experience for us. We feel like brand new parents in almost every way. When Dan first carried Sam over to me in recovery, the first thing I thought was, "Where is his IV pole and where are all of his wires?" Even today, every time I pick him up I start to search for his wires so I can gather them, too. Except, there are none! It's totally crazy!



I think the little man is starting to wake up from his five-hour nap, so I should go see if he is hungry. Thank you for all of the prayers! We are extremely thankful for our wonderful and supportive friends and family.

Catching up

I have a backlog of photos I want to post before we head to the hospital tomorrow.

I love this one..



Have I mentioned that Elijah loves playing with his ears?



Elijah adores his "Auntie Wynn."



Drinking some milk with "tickle glubs" on.



Hmmmmmm..



He likes to hide under this blanket on our bed like a silly boy.



Getting guitar lessons from Ben. :)



We are preparing for our big day tomorrow! It is a little strange to think that we are going to come back to this house after the weekend as a family of FOUR.

I will have Dan write an update as soon as it is convenient tomorrow, once the baby is born. We would appreciate any prayers you are willing to send our way for a smooth c-section and for good health for the baby! Thank you!!

38 weeks, 5 days (!!!)

I figured I would wrap up the lounging pics..



Not much changed since last week's visit with the doctor, so we are set for a 7:00 a.m. c-section on Friday. I have prayed so hard for a 39-week delivery and now that it looks like it is going to happen I can hardly believe it!

I am feeling crabby today, mostly because I'm extremely physically uncomfortable. I am sore and achy in the strangest places. Every time I stand up, I think, "Hmmm, that is an odd place to be sore.." I am pretty excited to have a non-pregnant body again.

Our house is clean, laundry is done and bags are packed. We are ready to go! We have some scheduling things to figure out for Elijah (kind of hard to expect other people to watch your child starting at 4:30 on a Friday morning), but we will get it all figured out.

It is so hard to believe that my contractions never got out of control (more than 5-6/hour) with this pregnancy. I would have bet so much money on not being pregnant for this long. I am very thankful for it, though!


I almost forgot!! Here are a few funny Elijah translations:
coupon = "poo-con"
polka dots = "poke-uh-nots"
drifting = "dripping"
banana = "ba-man-ah"

38 weeks, 4 days (!!)

Yes, I'm still pregnant. I can't stop eating oatmeal raisin cookies and Ben & Jerry's Half Baked ice cream, so I am feeling huger and more uncomfortable by the minute. It is looking like Friday might just be our newest little boy's birthday! We have to be at the hospital by 5:00 a.m. for a 7:00 c-section (unless labor starts sometime before then, of course). I have an appointment tomorrow, so I'll share whatever insight she might have after we get home.

Gotta go find some more cookies..

38 weeks, 1 day

We are still waiting and have no news. I have gotten to the point where I am physically very uncomfortable. Contractions + being 9 months pregnant + taking care of a 3-year-old = UGH. Other than that, we are doing fine! More later..

37 weeks, 6 days

More lounging and reading!



Elijah has been such an incredibly good boy lately. The behaviors that were about to drive us crazy a few months ago have lessened a lot. I have found myself feeling sad for him lately because soon his world is going to be seriously rocked. I know this is a very happy thing and getting a sibling is an amazing gift, but I can't help but feel a little bit bad for him at the same time.



I'm getting more convinced that our prayers will be answered and that we will indeed have a 39-week baby. It is what I have been praying for all along, so maybe God is just going right ahead and answering that prayer! My c-section is scheduled for next Friday, June 4th, so that is the longest we will have to wait to meet Not-Zooter. Whenever it happens, I can't wait to meet him!

By the way, we have no idea what we are naming this child. Dan and I have had some disagreements about a few names and we just cannot come to a final decision. Maybe we will end up putting "Zooter" on the birth certificate after all. :)

Still no news

I had my weekly appointment today and not much has changed since last week or the week before or the week before. After my doctor asked me, "Are you having any contractions to speak of?" again (seriously), she said that things ARE progressing, just not quickly. I'm still not dilated at all, but my cervix is changing shape. She said she wouldn't be surprised if I called her at 8:00 tonight or if I saw her again next week. It's anyone's guess!

I'm still in disbelief that I have made it this far (almost 38 weeks!). I'm beginning to wonder if the past four months of bed rest were even necessary. I think that will be one of those things that I will always wonder about but never know. Oh well.

37 weeks, 2 days

This boy likes to snuggle and lounge.



I'm still pregnant! No news yet. I packed my hospital bag last night, so I'm ready to go whenever the baby is ready to go. I have also been a wee bit anal about laundry and cleaning lately. I want everything to be ready ready ready!



Oh and I got to meet Andrea this weekend! She is as sweet and nice as I expected her to be. Now I have to get out to California to meet the rest of her awesome little family.

I will have Dan write a post as soon as anything starts to happen with Baby!

37 weeks!

This is me taking photos from the driveway with my new lens and Elijah doing his usual reading on the way back from the park with Dan.



As of today I have reached the 37-week point in my pregnancy! Thirty-seven weeks is considered full term! I truly never dreamed I would make it to this point. I feel a lot of different emotions as we await our new arrival. The main feeling for me this week seems to be grumpiness, but I am also feeling grateful and happy and weary and scared and anxious all at once.



I have been on bed rest for sixteen weeks! That seems like an eternity. I have gone through such a spectrum of emotions over the past four months. Part of the reason for this week's grumpiness is that even though I have permission to move around a bit more now, I really can't. My contractions are keeping me from doing much (they are getting quite uncomfortable, but still are not regular), so I really won't be free until after I have healed from my surgery. I can't remember what it is like to be physically active and to not be in pain or discomfort when I exert myself even a little bit. Once all of this is over, I will never take that for granted again!

I got my last progesterone shot last Friday, so right about NOW is when my body should be figuring out that it's not going to get any more shots. I'm bracing myself for possible craziness in the very near future.

Some random Elijah stuff

I am way behind on posting Elijah photos. I figured I better start posting more before we are preoccupied with the new baby.



We have an IEP meeting for Elijah on Monday. Who knows if I'll be able to attend or what our status will be then, but it's something we have to do at some point. I am curious to hear what his teachers will say about how he has done at preschool so far this year and what their goals are for him next year.



I haven't wanted to mention much about this until we have more details (and get professional opinions), but I have been kind of concerned about some of Elijah's very repetitive behaviors. I am eager to hear what the people at ECSE have to say about some of the things we notice here at home. He is SO INCREDIBLY REPETITIVE about certain things, and I want to know if it is something we need to look into further or if it is just typical kid stuff. More to come on that.



A cute Elijah thing that I have made note of is how descriptive he is when he refers to an object or a place. He doesn't ride the bus, he rides the "yellow bus with two doors." He doesn't go to the park, he goes to the "one green park" or the "one blue park." He doesn't ride in our cars, he rides in the "big red car" or the "little red car." He is more observant than I am!



Preschool days are still really trying for our family. Being there must be extremely overly stimulating for him still because he is usually pretty crazy on the days he is there. He really loves it, though, so we are happy we decided to start sending him to school. He asks me almost every night, "Go fee-gool 'morrow?"




Still no sign of baby! The frequency of my contractions continues to increase, though, so it could be any time. My guess is still the 25th, which is next Tuesday. We'll see if I'm right very soon!

36 weeks, 5 days

Elijah thinks we got the infant car seat out for him to use. :)



Well, I'm in a bit of disbelief, but nothing has changed since last week aside from my increasing frequency of contractions. My body is still (aside from the contractions) showing no signs of labor. I'm a bit confused as to how my uterus and cervix are sending such conflicting signals.

I am contracting a lot, and it is pretty uncomfortable to be doing anything but lying down when they hit. I haven't been sleeping well because I even contract all through the night on most nights and I just lie awake and count them. This may be part of the reason I am so tired and grumpy lately.

The plan is to go back to the doctor in a week. I'm not sure I will last another week without going into labor, but who knows?! This could be a 39-week delivery after all. Body of mine: you confuse me!

Four years

There have been way too many photos of me on this blog lately. I have filled my quota for the year! No more for a long long time.

Today is Dan's and my fourth wedding anniversary! We had our picture taken for this reason, but I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone by also posting a shot of my belly.



Tomorrow I get my last progesterone shot. That means things should start to get interesting soon. Tomorrow also marks 36 weeks! This is the exact point I went into labor with Elijah, so it feels like things should start to get crazy any time now. And it finally feels SAFE. Aaaahhhhh, it feels so incredible to be at this point!



Elijah caught a tiny little cold. I heard a couple little coughs this morning and a couple more after he went to bed tonight. I'm praying that's the extent of it and that it doesn't turn into anything worse.

We have two awesome visitors coming to visit this weekend. I can't wait to see these two people and I can't wait to post photos of their visit!!!



We saw this pretty double rainbow tonight!

35 weeks, 5 days

Elijah always asks me to make faces for him. The three most common requests are, "Mommy sad!" "Mommy happy!" and "Mommy mad!" :)



I just got back from my weekly visit with the doctor, and like last week, everything checked out great! Aside from the contractions, I am still showing no signs of labor. Maybe this baby will surprise us and make his appearance at 39 weeks?



My tummy feels HUGE. I am bigger than I ever was with Elijah and I feel uncomfortable and...well, huge! It's all worth it, though.



My doctor wants me to stay on bed rest until I reach 37 weeks and after that I can start to move around a little bit more. I am so very happy that I have almost made it to 36 weeks. Fifteen weeks ago, it seemed impossible that I would get this far!

35 weeks, 4 days

If you know Dan, you'll know that Elijah stole this face from him. I love this picture.



Not much to report today! Things are about the same. We just keep waiting and wondering when Not-Zooter will make his appearance. I am being extra cautious about not moving around too much this week because I would love to make it to 36 weeks. I'd love it even more if I made it to 37 weeks. We will see how it unfolds!

Mama's Day

My boys were extremely good to me for Mother's Day today (as they always are). I woke up to breakfast in bed and Dan gave me a Mother's Day gift that I didn't expect at all. He gave me a new lens for my camera! I can't wait to play with it a bit. I have the best boys in the world. I think I heard "Happy Muver's Day, Mom!" from Elijah about fifty times today and it never got old.

I did make it out to brunch with Dan's family, which was yummy and of course, fun. I considered not going since my contractions are a little bit out of control right now. If I weren't so well-versed in the subject of contractions, I may have considered going to the hospital in the middle of the night last night, or at least calling my doctor. I had contractions every 6-15 minutes or so from the time I went to bed until 4:00 am. And then they just stopped! Hmmmm. It didn't worry me enough to call the doctor, but it did worry me enough to get serious about doing some packing today. Elijah's little suitcase is all ready for him to go to Grandma's house for a few days. It's crazy to think that we could be having a baby any day now!

Have a good week and Happy Mother's Day to all of you wonderful moms!!!

I'll end with two of my recent favorite Elijah words:
carnival = "caramel"
parrot = "carrot"

Getting ready

Elijah got a new suitcase! He is ready to pack up some of his things and go to Grandma's house for a few days, whenever the baby decides to arrive. (And could he possibly look any cuter in these pjs?)



Looks like he will be a self-sufficient little traveler the next time we are traveling through an airport.



I'm at the 35-week mark today! There have been times over the past few days when I have wondered, Could this be it?! My contractions get a little crazy in the evenings and they are getting more and more uncomfortable. I have no idea how much longer my body will hold out. Sometimes I feel like it could be a few more weeks and sometimes I think it will be much sooner.



Elijah has had two really good days in a row as far as his behavior goes. There is such a difference in the mood in our house at the end of a good day. We don't have many weekend plans, besides maybe a Mother's Day outing (if my body is behaving) and just trying to keep this baby where he belongs. Have a great Mother's Day weekend, all you awesome mamas!!!!

34 weeks, 5 days

This is what I do when Dan tries to take a picture of me. I suppose I should allow him to take another belly shot soon.



I have said this a million times and I will say it again: This experience is SO DIFFERENT from my last pregnancy experience. Do you know how weird it is to leave doctor's appointments without receiving terrible news? I have reminded myself all day today that I should actually be thankful that the doctors don't remember me from one visit to the next because it means I have a healthy baby and a (relatively) normal pregnancy.

I did get to see my doctor today and she asked me, "So, are you having any contractions to speak of?" Uhhhhh, are you kidding? Isn't this something she should probably know by now? That I've been on bed rest for 14 weeks because of my many contractions? When I answered "yes," she actually looked a little bit surprised. I would be lying if I said that didn't frustrate me, but there isn't much I can do at this point.

My contractions have been kind of crazy today, but everything checked out great at my appointment. Aside from the contractions, I am showing zero signs of labor. I go back in a week for another check-up and we will go from there. I can practically taste the end and it feels unbelievable to know there is a good chance I could deliver a FULL-TERM BABY!

Dan and I (mostly Dan) have been chipping away at our To-Do Before Baby Arrives List. We have just a few things left to do and then we will be ready for Baby! I think this is the first time I have really let myself get excited. I can't wait to meet our new little man!

A bit of an unusual weekend

We have been teaching Elijah to shut his eyes when the sun is shining in his face. It's so much better than screaming.



We have had kind of a pieced together, unusual weekend. It has been rainy and cold, which has kept Dan from getting much work at the dropzone. A few helpers have come over to assist with Elijah while Dan was attempting to work. My contractions have been staying pretty consistent and my stomach is growing by the minute. Elijah has had his good and bad moments and I discovered that closing a 3-year-old up inside for an extended period of time is like putting a wild lion in a really tiny cage for a month or so.



Elijah has a cardiology appointment tomorrow, so I feel a tiny bit of anxiety about that. Hopefully he will continue to surprise us all in a good way.

We hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Check-up at almost 33 weeks

(I had someone mention to me recently that I get "too personal" on this blog, so now I feel like I should give a warning any time I talk about personal issues. I guess I don't know what is considered "too personal," so read at your own risk..)

Because of the complications we dealt with during my pregnancy with Elijah, I was seen at a high-risk perinatal clinic for all of my prenatal care. They were the best of the best, as specialized as they come and ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL doctors. I assumed I would be able to continue to see them with subsequent pregnancies, especially considering my age and history of complications, but nope! I have been going to a regular old OB clinic this entire pregnancy and it has been quite a different experience in many ways. The doctors at this clinic aren't bad doctors, they just are not what we are used to so it is sometimes difficult when we had such super high standards from our last experience.

"My" doctor is rarely running on time, so I always opt to see another doctor in place of her so we don't have to sit in her waiting room for two hours. I see different doctors all the time, and either they don't know who I am or what my history is or they say, "I think I've seen you once before, right?" This is frustrating because I come with some pretty heavy pregnancy baggage that I think is important to know and remember. At yesterday's appointment, I saw yet another new doctor because again, my doctor was "running way behind," and I got frustrated. I just didn't feel heard and I didn't feel cared for, especially since the end is in sight. No doctor has ever talked to me about a "plan," which I find a little bit frightening.

I'm trying to let it go. As long as they know what they are doing when it's time to deliver our baby I guess that is what matters. Next time (ha!) I will force my way back into that perinatal clinic. I wish I had been more persistent this time.

Anyway, everything checked out fine at my visit yesterday. The baby's growth was excellent! He is now in the 52nd percentile (up from the 40th!) and weighing 4 lbs, 5 oz!! My cervix looks good (is that too personal?) so the doctor wasn't too concerned about the increase in contractions I've been experiencing this week. I got the first of two betamethasone shots and will get the second one today. This will help the baby's lungs to mature in case I go into early labor. The doctor we saw yesterday thought I should easily be able to make it until 36 or 37 weeks, which would be wonderful!

As I said, my contractions have increased in frequency this week. I am now getting about 3-4/hour instead of the 1-2/hour I was getting for basically the first 12 weeks of bed rest. The doctor is comfortable with that number and doesn't feel medication is necessary beyond my regular weekly progesterone shots. I thought for sure I would be on the "big guns" meds by now, so it is a nice surprise that I have been able to avoid them. I remember not liking the side effects from them at all.

That is all for now! I go back in two weeks to get rechecked (maybe by a doctor I've yet to meet?) and by that time I will be getting very close! Yikes and woohoo, at the same time!!

Patience

I already knew that we had the best friends in the world and then we received a package in the mail from Kathy and her boys that confirmed this. She made, BY HAND, this adorable little Zooter piggy for Elijah. It could not be more perfect! "Zooter" has such a fun, special meaning for us, so it is a very meaningful little gift.



I'm pretty sure I will always think of 2010 as the Year of Patience. Bed rest has required a lot of patience (and will continue to do so, I'm sure), Elijah is in a phase where he is constantly searching inside himself for patience, which requires even more patience from Dan and me. We literally pray for patience at each meal and before bed each night and all three of us repeat "patiencepatiencepatience" as we walk around the house or eat dinner or lay on the couch or do whatever.

Today I realized that it's not really that Elijah is overall behaving worse than he normally does. It's just that his highs have become higher and his lows have become lower. When he is a good boy, he is really really good and when he's not, well.. No matter what, though, I love every minute I get to spend with him. I'm so grateful for him and for his health. We love our little (sometimes very impatient) boy to pieces! He's the best.

I reached the 32-week mark in my pregnancy yesterday, which is a huge milestone. My contractions have maybe gotten just a little bit worse, but nothing too alarming yet. I am so happy to have made it to this point and I'm still hoping for a 39-week delivery. Stranger things have happened!

I'll end with my favorite recent Elijah translation:
"bundled up" (as in, wearing layers of clothes) = "buckled up"