Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Claire Elaine is Here!

Well she made it! Claire Elaine Deal Hassler was born July 29th at 10:07 a.m. via Cesarean Section. She is 10 pounds and 2 ounces and 22¼ inches long. I think this confirms it; I really was carrying a watermelon. She was the biggest one around until today when someone pushed out a 10 pound 13 ounce toddler. I can’t even imagine. So far everything is going well. I am on the mend. Today ended up pretty well physically but everyone keeps telling me it is third day that really gets you. We shall see what tomorrow brings . . .

Claire on the other hand is still in the neonatal ICU because of her blood sugar. Basically towards the end of the pregnancy she was getting too much sugar from me and not enough insulin so her little pancreas took care of it. Now that she is out and not getting any sugars from me her pancreas is producing too much insulin and her blood sugar is too low. They are working with her to get her numbers up and we are hopeful it will be sooner than later. Once this is all taken care of it shouldn’t be an issue in the future. So keep your fingers crossed that she gets to go home with me on Friday.

Mike is doing well too. He really likes being a Daddy. I am not so sure how much he likes being my primary care provider at the moment but he does anything I need without complaint. I couldn’t have done any of this without him (so true in so many ways).

Monday, July 28, 2008

The Baby is Coming, the Baby is Coming!

Well in case you haven’t heard, the baby is coming tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. We found out last week and have been scrambling to get ourselves prepared. Big surprise, we still aren’t but I don’t know that we have a choice at this point.

I have to have a cesarean section. When they measured her last Monday they thought she was coming in at ten pounds and one ounce. Quite the big beauty. So the best option for all involved is to have a c-section. We go to the doctor again this morning for one last check. So . . . I suppose Baby Girl Deal Hassler is going to be born sometime during the nine o’clock hour tomorrow morning. Ahhhh!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

The Baby - Week 37

Not much to report this week except that she is full term! Woohoo! All should be well if she were to be birthed any day now. She is around 6 1/3 pounds and measures the same as a stalk of Swiss Chard (a little more than 19 inches long). Let’s hope she holds out for at least another week or it might be difficult to make it to Uncle Lance’s wedding (we will find a way but still being on maternity leave would make things _much_ easier). If she makes it to her due date then I wouldn’t have to go back until the Monday after Halloween – and we all know that would make a happy Mommy.

First Weekly Visit

I had my first weekly appointment this week. I don’t believe I was quite prepared for the visit. Zounds! And lucky me I get to do it again next week! Anyway, long story short, she hasn’t dropped. We will have an ultrasound next week to see how big she is. He also wants to make sure she hasn’t dropped because her head is too big to make it through. Eek! More to report after Monday!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

The Baby - Week 36

Ok, I thought she felt like she was larger than a honeydew melon. I was a week behind in posting somehow. So she is actually the size of a crenshaw melon which means she is about 6 pounds and 18½ inches. Still seems a bit small for as cramped as we both feel. She is losing her downy covering of hair and her vernix caseosa (a waxy substance that covers and protects her skin while she is in the amniotic fluid.

At the end of this week she will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Woohoo! Her birthday is near!

The Baby - Week 35

So Baby Girl Deal Hassler isn’t a watermelon yet but a honeydew melon. Could have fooled me! She is about 5¼ pounds and 18 inches long. Most of her basic physical development is now complete and will start trying to put on an ounce a day until she is born. She is pretty snug in there and can’t do as many somersaults but she sure can still move and get the hiccups!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

The Baby - Week 34

Baby Girl Deal Hassler is now about the size of an average cantaloupe (about 4 ¾ pounds). Of all the melons to be the size of, cantaloupe is not the one I would have thought. Large watermelon comes to mind more than cantaloupe. I wonder if that is why I have been eating so much of it lately. I do believe she is almost 18 inches long – how long are watermelons?

Her fat layers are continuing to fill out – rounding her out and making her skin smoother. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well.