The Art of Thumb Twiddling

Hi there!
We're still here... and we're still pregnant. Baby is adhering to her new schedule :) After learning that we had another whole week to wait, we have been finding various activities to pass the time including: naps, movies, broadway shows, reading, hanging out in the park, online shopping, museums, eating, etc. Everyone keeps saying "enjoy it while you can" but, I have to admit, I am NOT very good at waiting. I hope baby is a bit more patient than me. The challenge has been to entertain ourselves with activities that require very little walking so that I can avoid going into labor until Monday.

I was 39 weeks pregnant as of yesterday and the belly is reaching its maximum capacity.

We went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and I apologize for neglecting to take a photo because it was quite a sight. My Mom and I were in wheelchairs and Scott and Dad were having far too much fun pushing us around. Just look at them- they're clearly up to no good ;)


Mom and Dad are staying a little longer so they can meet Bumpette. I can't remember the last time I spent a week "vacationing" with my parents...but we're having a great time.


Below are a few pics from Induction Day- Part One (this was on Monday...stay tuned for "Part Deux")!

Scott lugged all the bags up to the Labor & Delivery room...

we got settled in my room overlooking the city (the pic doesn't do it justice)...

and they hooked me up to the monitors...

but alas, Bumpette was not going to make her debut :(

Here's hoping that Induction Day "Part Deux" (starting @ 8pm PST this coming Monday) actually produces a baby!!!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend :)
(and Happy Belated Victoria Day weekend Canadians!)
Adie

Change of plans

So guess what? We're leaving the hospital and I haven't had a baby yet! We found out after checking in that there are 7 CDH babies in the NICU right now (this is a LOT) and some of them were unexpected and are quite sick. As a result, while they "could" definitely care for our baby if she was born now, it is probably in her best interest if we wait a week since she is doing aok inside and will have even more resources if she waits. I will be getting regular testing to monitor how she is doing and the plan is to return to get induced next Monday evening (8pm pst) unless I happen to go into labor sooner.
it's a bit of a let down after getting all psyched up but "whatcha gonna do?"
Now we have to find something to keep us busy...
-Adie and Scott

Waiting...

Hi there,
We checked in at 8am this morning but there was a miscommunication and they weren't expecting us until 12. So...we're starting a bit more slowly this morning but we are now set up in our room (a huge room on the 15th floor that overlooks the city and Golden Gate bridge) and they were monitoring baby's heart beat, etc. The docs should be coming to check on me soon but as of now we are just hanging out, watching the Lost finale on the laptop and looking out over the city :)
Hold your breath everyone- this is going to take a while!!
-Adie

Let the countdown begin...

It has been an exciting weekend for Bumpette and her soon-to-be parents. We moved into the Family House on Friday. We are so grateful to have a place to stay that is so close to the hospital. At the same time, it felt a bit like the first day of camp when I was a kid and made us feel pretty homesick. We cannot thank Mike, Tanya, Maya and Camden enough for hosting us the past 3 weeks. I'm not sure we can call you friends anymore... so we'll stick with family instead. We miss waking up to the excited cries of "Adie!" and "Scott" in the morning. I suppose soon enough we'll have different cries to wake up to ;)


On Saturday my parents arrived in San Francisco and we explored the city the way a big ol' preggy lady should- on a big ol' bus. I think my Dad fell asleep for most of the tour due to jet-lag... but I enjoyed it! Today is my parents' 40th wedding anniversary (Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad- nice work!) but they'll have to wait just a little bit longer for their present- grandchild #4.


Today we went out for my favorite meal (brunch) and explored Golden Gate Park. We hit the beach long enough to get a mouthful of sand and see the kite-surfers.



Before we become parents to Bumpette (we'll change her name once she's born- don't worry!), we need to give a shout-out to our "first-born" 4-legged baby (below). We miss him terribly but know that he is in good hands with our friends Wes & Carrie (thank you guys!!!!). We can't wait to introduce Toby to his "little sister."



Finally, thank you to everyone for the messages, calls, texts, positive brainwaves, etc. We know you are thinking about us. We are so excited to meet our baby in the next day (or so) but we are also extremely anxious and scared. We know baby is doing aok while she's on the inside and her challenges will come when it's time to make her debut. If I could switch my gestational period to that of an elephant (22 mos) in order to keep baby safe and healthy, I think I would- and that's saying something considering how sick I was during this pregnancy! Anyway, since I'm not turning into an elephant anytime soon (all jokes aside), we're going to stick with the assumption that baby is up for the challenge and is going to surprise us all with her courage and strength. Go baby McVeigh!!!!!

We'll be posting updates on here tomorrow about how we're all doing.
xox
Adie & Scott

Baby behaves

Hi there,
We went to our appointment today and baby was on her best behavior. She showed off for the doctor and bought us 2 more days of adults-only time and some sleep!! :)
So- unless she changes her mind and I go into labor, we are waiting until Monday morning to be induced. Hip hip hooray.
Cheers,
Adie and Scott

The Great Escape

Phew, that was a close call! I almost had to make a run for it but the doctors and nurses let me go with permission after threatening to induce me today (instead of Monday- our scheduled date). It all started with a sleepy baby. You should have heard the funny noises Scott and the nurse were making an inch from my belly in an effort to wake her up during antenatal testing (listening to heart rate, etc.) :) They noticed some slight decelerations in the baby's heart rate and insisted we head to Labor & Delivery for additional monitoring/testing. We stopped to grab some Mexican food on the way across the street and, by the time we arrived, baby was so energized they couldn't get her to stay still enough to monitor her! Baby likes jalapenos!! After giving the baby a stress test which involved an IV (ick) and a Pitocin drip, baby's heart rate looked good and they let us go home for the night. So- despite the fact that a 30 minute appointment turned into 5 hours, we are happy not to be sleeping-slash-having-a-baby at the hospital tonight. We go back tomorrow afternoon for more testing... but I am hoping we can still hold out until Monday and enjoy one last adults-only weekend. Listen up baby McVeigh! No deviating from the schedule allowed!!!


Scott and I also managed to sneak out for a lovely date night at an Italian bistro in Napa yesterday, complete with candlelight and an accordion player. As we enjoyed sophisticated (!?) conversation and a great meal, I imagined all you parents out there snickering and saying "Heh heh heh- enjoy it while you can!!!"

You have one thing right my friends- we have NO idea what we're really in for...but somehow we're going to figure it out ;) Wish us luck- we're gonna need it.
Cheers,
Adie

The Hubby is Here!!

After 2 weeks of missing me and the Bumpette terribly (yes- I missed him too), Scott arrived in San Francisco on Saturday. I was worried he wouldn't fit into the sliver of bed that remains after accounting for my belly and my large collection of pillows... but we made it work. We spent Sunday touring around the Napa Valley which was beeeeeaaaauuuuutiful. It's a shame neither of us could enjoy the wine but it's a great excuse to return in the future!

Monday was a marathon of doctors' appointments and a chance for Scott to get acquainted with UCSF Childrens' Hospital, etc. We met with one of the surgeons on the fetal treatment team to ask more questions and got a tour of Labor & Delivery and the Intensive Care Nursery (ICN). Being at the hospital together made everything more real but it is still hard to believe that we will be delivering a baby there in 5 days. There were 3 babies in the ICN that had CDH (congenital diaphragmatic hernias)... more than they usually have in the unit on a given week. I'm sorry those babies are sick and, at the same time, it was a somewhat comforting reminder that we are in the right place for our baby's health problems and the doctors and nurses here have seen this many times and will be doing everything possible to help our baby.

We only have one more doctor's appointment on Thursday and we are moving into our "new place" on Friday afternoon. If you're looking for our address we will be at:
Koret Family House:
1234 10th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94122
Phone: (415) 476-0160
Fax: (415) 476-0159

We head into the hospital Monday morning at 8am so I can be induced.
So... what are we going to do with the 5 days we have left before baby arrives? We are most definitely having a date night or two, I'm going to indulge in a pre-baby mani/pedi, we're going to explore our new 'hood and scope out all of the take-out restaurants we will surely be frequenting, AND we're going to get as much sleep as possible. Oh, and I guess I have to pack a bag for the hospital...

Thanks to everyone for the ongoing positive thoughts, wishes, and prayers. Baby will definitely be needing them in the next week or two !
Thanks for reading,
Adie & Scott

Jelly Belly

The highlight of the week so far was a tour of the Jelly Belly factory in Fairfield, CA. Yes, yes, I know... the irony of a large pregnant lady touring (i.e., waddling around) the jelly belly factory was not lost on me :) Who knew a jelly bean went through so many stages before it was born? Interestingly enough, they now have jelly beans the flavor of baby wipes, snot, and canned dogfood... but I stuck with the classics instead.

My wonderful roommates Maya and Camden continue to keep me entertained. Maya has suggested we name the baby "Rainbow Sparkly Teeth" and Camden decided this afternoon to make the bathroom into a pond after stuffing the toilet with toilet paper and flushing repeatedly. They are giving me a crash course on the fun of parenting! Below is a pic of Maya and her baby belly.

Baby McVeigh is doing aok right now. They didn't do a full ultrasound this week so no new baby measurement estimates, but I am guessing she is around 8 lbs. Only 10 more days of in-the-belly growing to go! I am getting a bit nervous but I am doing a good job of distracting myself. Childbirth? What? Labor? What? Denial is a wonderful tool!

As I mentioned in the first post, I'm new to blogging. I assumed (silly me) that when you "followed" a blog it actually sent you updates when I made new posts. Uhhhhhh no, it does not. So- if you have better things to do than check our blog repeatedly for updates (???) and would like to be notified via email when there is a new post, I added a gadget on the top left of the blog page where you can SUBSCRIBE and enter your email. Otherwise, definitely check back around the 24th, 25th or so- there will likely be updates then!!!

Thanks for reading,

Adie

The Adventures of Bumpette

It's been just over one week since "we" arrived in California and already Bumpette has been on numerous adventures! Besides the twice weekly visits to the doctor so we can listen to baby's heartbeat and check up on her, we have been on a tour of San Francisco (Thanks to Vance for the guided tour).

We also had a chance to visit with Allie who was in San Francisco for a work trip.

As you can see, I dragged Allie to the ice cream parlor to have some health food ;)

I also took Bumpette on a trip to Sausalito with Tanya and the kiddos. Wouldn't you know...we ate ice cream there too!

Finally, I had a chance to visit my friend Tracy and her husband Thom (from graduate school) in Santa Rosa which was beautiful. I forgot to take photos... but picture a beautiful house up on a mountain overlooking the wineries with deer and wild turkeys playing in the back yard! Since I am missing my dog Toby so much, it was nice to have Brie and Zola around to pet and play with.

My belly is getting bigger and it is getting tougher to hoist myself up off of the couch or bed as each day passes. Good thing we only have 13 days to go!! I am looking forward to Scott's arrival Saturday so I can get help with putting my socks on and all of the other things that are getting more difficult with this big belly of mine.

More updates to come soon!
Cheers,
Adie

California girl

Hip hip hooray!! I made it safe and sound to San Francisco Saturday night. My "adoptive family" - the Aaen's have been wonderful and these are my cute new roommates (above).

After spending 5-6 hours at doctors' appointments on Monday (ugh), here are the updates on baby McVeigh: Baby is now approximately 6lb 13oz and still growing! She is extremely active and kicks me constantly.

Now for the big news... they have chosen Monday, May 24th as the day to induce me which means baby will likely arrive between May 24th-26th. That's less than 3 weeks away and it still doesn't feel real. For those who don't know, May 24th is "Victoria Day" which is a Canadian holiday in celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday. It sounds like a great day to have a baby (especially since I'm Canadian)! After baby is born, they will likely give her 2-10 days to rest and stabilize before they perform surgery to repair her hernia.

I am missing Scott and Toby and all of our friends in Atlanta but the doctors' appointments and my new roommates are keeping me busy. I am sure Scott is missing me too but I know he's not bored! I was sweet enough to leave him with a long To-Do list which includes eating everything in our fridge, freezer, and pantry, and LOTS of cleaning. (Thank you honey!!)

Cheers,
Adie