Finally... pictures!

Waiting for surgery

Just after delivery

Daddy & Darcy hang out

A very sick momma finally meets her girl

Gramma Maeve (MaeMae)

Steve (Poppy)

and Laura (Gammy)

Her little squished face has already changed so much - Day 1:

On day 4

On day 6

Daddy & Darcy

This baby is making me sleepy!!

Daddy and Darcy on our last night in the hospital (may take a while to load)

Her first official photo (portrait studio in the hospital - brilliant!)

First day home - Logan meets Darcy

and really likes her!!
"Dude" becomes "Dad"

Sweet sleepy girl

Logan opens his "big brother" care package from Aunt Rhonda

Logan trying to see Darcy in the crib - she was crying

Hanging out in the cradle
Loves her hands in her face

Grouchy face

Sweet & Sleepy

Grampa Ian arrives on the scene

Darcy snuggling on the sheepskins

As proud Kiwi grampa looks on

Checking out herself at her first doctor's visit

One week old today!

She Is Here!!

Darcy Jean Meadows
born 1:02pm, Monday, September 22
7 lbs, 1/2 oz.
18 1/2 inches long

Pictures once we get out of the hospital and back home to reliable internet!! Our C-section went fine and was definitely necessary, as my gestational hypertension was upgraded (or downgraded, depending on your view!!) to preeclampsia on Monday about 1 hour before the surgery. Very dangerous for mom & baby, so c-section went ahead as planned and I spent 24 hours afterwards on a very nasty concoction known as magnesium sulfate to prevent any seizures brought on by the preeclampsia. Works great in that respect, but makes you feel absolutely terrible in the process, and you cannot get up or be disconnected from any of the machines. Big Yuck.

But it is now Thursday night, and we are scheduled to take this little bundle of baby love home tomorrow. Thanks for all the thoughts & well wishes from our friends & family - lots of pictures to be posted very soon!!

Bedrest isn't pretty - but at least I have company

The Crafty Side of Nesting...

When I first started getting the urge to make up the baby's room, it was back while we were under construction - new shower and torn up closet/desk area. I would pace the house in the evenings, looking for something I could do to get ready for the baby's arrival. I decided a big craft project, like a large cross stitch sampler, could keep me busy enough until we could get into the room and paint, assemble furniture, get organized, etc. Who knew, I might even finish it before the baby arrived! So I worked on it for a few weeks, while watching TV, or just hanging out on the weekends, and suddenly, it was done - a sweet fairy tale "Once Upon a Time" ABC sampler. I had it framed (before I went on rest) the last time that Jo-Ann had a framing sale, and I think it has turned out beautifully, it is just so cute.



So, when I dropped that off for framing, I thought I'd pick up a slightly smaller project, just a little bib that Bunny will use when she's a little older. That way, if I didn't finish that, at least she wouldn't need it right away. And I've loved the "I heart Veggies" pattern for a while, I have made it before for several friends. Seemingly after no time at all, it was done too! I actually finished it on my day in the hospital last week, Tony brought it in for me and less than an hour later, it was done. Only time will tell if our Bunny really will love veggies...

Now that I'm on bed rest, the irony is not lost on me - I finished 2 cross stitch projects, one quite large, when I was perfectly capable of cleaning my house, doing my laundry, walking the dog, etc. Now that all I can do is lay around, I'm out of projects?!?! Thankfully the ABC pattern came in a book with some other designs as well, and I have enough material in house to start on my 3rd project, which will be a name sign for her door. Of course, we won't fully commit to the name until we see her, but we definitely have our favorite choice lined up, and now, partially stitched up. And at this point, just having something to do with myself is therapeutic enough, even if we change her name at the last minute! No pictures of that one yet, but it is coming along very quickly, I'm confident I'll have it done before next week, barring any unfortunate early hospital admissions.

Speaking of which, my last appointment with the doctor was on Friday, and all was well, although I still had some moderately high blood pressure, even medicated it was 145/98. They put me on the monitors for a non-stress test and the baby looks fine as usual, I even had 2 contractions while I was being monitored. I didn't notice them, but hey, that works for me. I go back Tuesday for a biophysical profile (BPP) ultrasound of the baby - checking her functions, size, etc. They did this in the hospital last week too and she was perfect. My final appointment will be on Friday for another non-stress test - a short session of monitoring my bp and the baby's heart rate. Then next week, we have the baby! Of course, if anything is trending badly this week at the doc's, we'll have the baby sooner, but the longer she can stay in the ol' oven, the better for all.

The bedrest is boring me, but it's not too bad other than being boring. And the flat hair on the one side of my head - no pictures, please! :) If I cheat and get up to do something for more than just a couple minutes, I can feel the difference as my feet start to swell and my head starts feeling light, so clearly there is a good reason for all of this. Tony has been astounded by how "productive" he has been the last few days - running errands, taking the dog to the groomer, doing laundry, cooking dinner, cleaning the kitchen. He's very capable, but I think it has surprised even him to see how much it is to do by yourself. I guess it's good practice for after the baby arrives, even though we'll have much help from both sets of grandparents at first. I am glad for the help, especially since a C-section is a very real possibility at this point. But that is ok with me, whatever gets our Bunny here to us quickly & safely is what I want.

from football to bedrest...

After our long weekend in Charlotte, we had the opportunity to go to the Thursday night Vanderbilt game against South Carolina - Tony won tickets through work. It was kind of misting rain, and definitely crowded on the bleacher seating (yuck) so we only stayed through the first half. But it was a good game and Vandy pulled out a big win. Lots of football in a week!

On Monday, I headed in to the doc for my latest checkup. I am already 1cm dialated, although I know I could walk around like that for weeks and weeks. Unfortunately, I won't be walking much at all. Turns out my blood pressure alarmed them (170/110!!) so they had me lay down and retook it a few times. It only went down to about 140/98, so they had me go straight home and rest for the rest of the day. I went back in on Tuesday, and it was up again at 160/100. That landed me in the maternity ward of the hospital for 24 hours of observation & tests. No fun at all. I did get to see a lot more of our Bunny, as they checked her heart rate and did an extra ultrasound - she is perfect, just the right size, right position, heart rate, everything working just right. Thankfully, all the testing they did on me came out relatively normal, no preeclampsia yet, just hypertension. So I was sent home with a prescription for blood pressure meds and bedrest.

By my doc's calculations, I am in the middle of the 35th week. So the plan is for frequent checks, bedrest, and an eventual induction once we get into the 37th week. So the bad news is that I will be very bored for the next week or two. The good news is that we will get to meet our little peanut sooner rather than later. At 37 weeks, she will be considered full term and will most likely not need any interventions or treatments that will keep her from going home with us. I will have to be medically induced, unless by some miracle I go into spontaneous labor in the next couple of weeks. That may mean a c-section or just a chemically induced regular delivery, we are still being given the choice. I'm gathering some info in my brain as we get closer to the time that we have to make the decision. As we get there, something may change that makes the decision the doctor's business - so I'm not getting too tied to either option just yet.

In other maternity news, I have a fantastic skin condition called PUPPPs. Stands for Pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (PUPPP), also known as polymorphic eruption of pregnancy (PEP). Isn't that an outstanding name? Well, it is a "harmless" pregnancy rash that starts in and around stretch marks on your belly and travels to your legs and arms. And by "harmless", clearly they mean "burns and itches like a travelling pack of ravenous fire ants!" On my next visit, I am going to see what I can get for it, because it is most certainly travelling around my stomach and arms. The bedrest is actually really nice in this case, because it was getting difficult to work being so itchy in work clothes, at least at home I can hang out in soft pjs.

So, by all means, if anyone out there wants to share your pregnancy stories, or labor stories, or just tell me about the insane woman you ran into at the grocery store, whatever - I will be up for some entertainment in the short term! I am working from home on my laptop to tie up my loose ends, but that will only keep me busy during the day. At least I will be able to update my blog, and be certain I will do so!!

Labor Day in Charlotte - football @ 36 weeks

We travelled to Charlotte over Labor Day weekend for a number of reasons - 3 day weekend, a Viginia Tech football game, and to visit family. My brother Daniel is heading off to the Peace Corps in Cameroon in mid-September, so getting a chance to see him before he left was a big deal. The VT game was supposed to be the highlight of the weekend, but it turned out to be the sweaty, delirious, letdown of the season, as East Carolina University made the Hokies look downright sorry, beating us 27-22. The heat made it almost surreal, mid-90s on a very sunny Saturday afternoon, and really took the Hokie faithful out of the game by the 3rd quarter. I think even Bunny got a little cooked through my tummy! We made it through the game without any sunburn, but after the game I swelled up like a pufferfish for the rest of the weekend! Swollen hands, feet, and face can be seen in the later pictures. You'd think VT could have stepped it up since I was battling the elements and my giant belly to come root for them. Alas, it was not to be so. At least we got the chance to get our family together, eat, drink (ginger ale for me), bicker, and give Danny Bob a good American sendoff.

Baby shower at work

A very sweet coworker of mine decided to throw us a co-ed shower at my office last week. It was a very nice after-work party, with the best part being that Tony got to come and open some presents too! We got some more nice things for the baby, lots of diapers and bathing stuff, cute clothes, etc. But nothing could top the highlight of the party - cigars for the "guys". I don't know if Tony could decide if he liked his pink bubble gum cigars or Logan's bones better!! Logan is quite the hero at my office, so of course they had to include him in the gift giving - he's the "big brother!" I think he was quite impressed with the "doggie stogies" when I brought them home to him.