I've got what?!!!

I was hoping to be back in the land of the living by now and have been anxious to catch up with all of you, but my body apparently has different plans. I've been recovering from the surgery almost perfectly, but according to this full-body rash that has taken me over (and brought out all of those tears I was able to contain during most of my pregnancy), my body did not agree with my son's DNA. (kind of ironic isn't it - didn't I have something to do with making that DNA?!!) Anyway, I have this nasty thing called PUPPPs. It stands for a very long medical name, with the 1st word meaning "itchy." And that's no joke. Basically, it's the new mom's version of the chicken pox x10. But I am now on steroids, so not only am I on a speedy road to recovery, but my son is going to triple in size by next week (but hopefully his chest hairs will wait a few more months before growing in). I appreciate everyone's patience with my backlogged blog (I've got so many pictures I am dying to share!) and my lack of phone calls. We can't wait to catch up soon!

The Birth

So much to catch up on! I'm sorry it has taken us so long - as anyone who's been through this before knows, times flies by with a newborn! Because I don't want to forget how it all happened and some of you are wondering, I'll describe the birth in some detail, and so if you are a bit sqeemish, you might want to skip this part. Here's where it all started...
We went into the hospital Sunday at 3pm to start the induction. They hooked me up on a fetal monitor and saw that I was already having contractions! I guess I mistook them for being the baby moving around. They weren't exactly regular, but what a relief to know that I was actually making progress. Then I got the Cervadyl, which is supposed to get me ready to dilate, and Erik and I tucked in for what we thought was going to be a calm night. After about 1 hour of sleep, my contractions really started to pick up and become regular - about 4-6 minutes apart - and I definitely felt those! However, I didn't feel much in my belly - it was all in my back. So, Erik didn't get much sleep that night either, as he was a very diligent back rubber. Around 7am, the doctor came in to check on me, and I was finally 1 whole centimeter dilated! (hint a bit of sarcasm here) Anyway, he broke my water, hoping that that would progress things, and they started me on pitocin, which is supposed to increase the severity of the contractions to help with dilation. That's when I took Lamaze breathing to a whole new level! There were not enough "shhssh shhssh heee heee's" in me to keep my head from spinning, so I quickly started screaming out for the epidural. The epidural man is my new best friend!!
I soon got to the point where the contractions were heating up, but thanks to my new BFF, I just felt a little pressure. We were excited to see our progress, but my body just wouldn't cooperate. We tried to up the pitocin a couple of times to convince this baby to start its journey, but instead, the baby's heartrate would start to drop. So we backed off the drugs, and by 1pm, I was only 2cm dilated. It was time to talk c-section. As soon as the good doc said it was time, Erik and I quickly agreed there was no sense in putting our baby through unnecessary stress, and we said the magic word.
Apparently saying the word "c-section" is the key to getting every hospital employee to run to your attention. On top of the nurses, doctors, and techs, I wouldn't be surprised if the janitor and lunchlady also made appearances. It was a whirlwind. My ER episode officially began, and I started calling Erik my George Clooney. Within 20 minutes, we were prepped and wheeled down the hall to the OR. I had about 5 seconds to cry and freak out, and the next thing I knew, my BFF (remember that epidural guy?!!), was poking at me to make sure I was numb. I told him, yes, I was quite tingle-ly, but I could still feel him poking at me. He said that was normal - I should be able to feel the pressure, just no pain. WHAT?!!! No one ever told me about this. I thought I was supposed to feel nothing. It was time to start Lamaze breathing again - not to get through contractions, but to get through my freaking out! Dr. Brandner started the procedure, and unless you've been through it, I'm not sure my description will do it justice. But I felt an enormous relief of pressure when he pulled the baby out, followed by the strangest feeling of someone's hands vigorously "massaging" my guts back into place. The doctor did explain that he would be "massaging" my uterus to help it to contract back down (something that would happen more naturally with a vaginal delivery). But if I didn't know any better, I would have thought the doc was trying to knead a loaf of bread in my belly! At the same time, Erik and the nurses were all describing what was going on with the baby - apparently he peed all over the nurses - the plumbing works! Gunnar let out a few cries, and I was an emotional mess. Unfortuantely my temperature dropped, leaving me shaking and scared to try to hold my baby, but they braced him in bed with me so we could travel the halls together back to our room.
As I worked on warming up, Erik got to hold Gunnar "skin-to-skin" - the bonding process that's encouraged just after birth - and Gunnar was sucking his hand so loudly that the nurses outside our room could hear it! At first, we thought Gunnar was giving his dad a huge hickey, but apparently he was giving himself one.
It was official - Erik and I were now the proud parents of an amazing baby boy.

Henry Gunnar Lindhjem

Happy Birthday, Gunnar!

We welcomed Henry "Gunnar" Lindhjem on Monday, July 21st at 1:55pm. He weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs. 8 oz. and 22 1/2". He will be starting kindergarten next week.

Actually, we are still getting our parenting feet wet at the hospital and will get to go home tomorrow or Thursday. Everyone is doing great! Enjoy these photos, and we will fill you in on more details when the dust settles. Thank you for all of your support and well wishes!

Plan B (or is it C or D?... ahhh... to heck with plans!)

We went to the doctor's office this morning to have a non-stress test to check on the baby, and it just about kicked the monitor off of my belly! So all is well, and we are continuing to wait. For all of you out there believing in the heartrate theory for deciding if it's a boy or girl, when the baby was quiet, the heartrate hung out around 130 (most would say that's a boy). And, when I looked at the poster on the wall of the female reproductive system, the heartrate soared to about 160. I'm even starting to think it's a boy.
So now we are scheduled to go to the hospital at 3pm on Sunday to start induction (unless, of course, the full moon does its thing tonight and gets this baby movin'!), and then the doctor that we have been working with for the past couple of weeks will deliver our little monster on Monday. We're looking forward to working with Dr. Brandner, as he's a fellow biker, and we can welcome this baby as we all watch the Tour de France (well, hopefully the doctor will be watching the baby!). Erik's declared that the baby will be named after whoever is leading the Tour at the time... if the baby were born right now, it looks like Cadel would be the winning name (and no, I never said I agreed to all this!). All I can say is thank goodness Riccardo has been eliminated from the Tour (Riccardo Lindhjem... I don't think so!!!).

Stop playing with my emotions!!

So... we were literally walking out the door to drive to the hospital for our 5pm induction, when the doctor's office called. And now it's 9pm, we're still at home and are still waiting on a baby. To make a long story short, the doctor did not want to induce tonight and thought it was a good idea to have the nurse call at the 11th hour to tell a 9-month pregnant woman that the baby she thought she was going to give birth to very soon would have to wait. As you could imagine, that went over like a turd in a punchbowl. So, now we're back to trying every old wive's tale out there to get this baby to make its own entrance while we figure out our next plan of action. If you've got any suggestions, bring 'em on!!

We've got a plan!

This baby is teaching us very early on who the boss is, and it's definitely not me! We were hoping by now that I would be at least a little bit dilated or showing some signs of Baby's arrival, but as of this morning, not much was going on except that the head has dropped slightly since last week. So... since the doctors are pretty insistent about not letting us go past 41 weeks, we're going to start the induction process tomorrow evening at 5pm. That will hopefully get us a baby by sometime Thursday! If things don't progress in a reasonable amount of time or I get to the pushing stage and have any problems, then a c-section is still very possible, but we'll see how things go. Keep your fingers crossed for us, and we can't wait to introduce you to Baby Lindhjem!

Sonogram picture

So it may look like a little alien, but I still think it's a very cute little alien with adorable chubby cheeks!

(In case you are having a hard time figuring it out, the baby is looking at you - the 2 darks spots on the right are the eyes, and the picture is cut off on the left at the top of its chest. Apparently it had its arm squished against its face, and that's what the blurs at the bottom are.)

Yup, it's a whopper!

Well, we're now at 40 weeks +1 day, and no baby yet! It sounds like that's not unusual for a 1st baby, but as I have been suspecting for a while, we do have a whopper on our hands. Yesterday's ultrasound estimated the baby's weight at 9 lbs 9 oz! Yikes! And on top of that, I'm showing no signs of any progression. You'd think that a baby that big would realize that it could beat up any other kid in the nursery and shouldn't be scared to come out!! I've tried to have a talk with it, but it's already letting me know who's the boss around here.
So anyway, the doctor started preparing us with the thought that it's highly probable that we'll need a c-section. Not what I wanted to hear, but we're looking at all of our options and trying to figure out what's going to be best for everyone. We go back in on Tuesday for another checkup, and we've been advised not to let this go past next Thursday. Of course, we'll continue to keep you all posted! And as soon as we figure out our new printer/scanner/does-it-all-machine (except deliver babies!), I'll scan in the ultrasound picture so that you too can see the cutest chubby cheeks ever!

Dr. Seuss in 'da crib!!

Maurene and Jay came to visit this weekend to deliver... The Crib!! This is the latest (and in my option, the greatest), masterpiece to come out of Grandpa Jay's workshop. Now the Dr. Seuss nursery is complete and ready for a baby! So Baby, what are you waiting for?!!

This was definitely a joint effort - Jay's crib is gorgeous, Mom made the adorable ABC needlework, and Erik and I found the "Oh the Places You'll Go" lithograph that's hanging over the crib. We even pulled a few pieces out of retirement. The porch swing holding our Dr. Seuss friends was made for the Rheutan girls by our family friends, the Greenwoods, when I was just kneehigh to a grasshopper. And the bear in the rocking chair was Erik's "waiting" bear - Mo and Jay's buddy as they awaited their baby's arrival.

Baby, I hope you like your room as much as we do!

The Three Great Physicians

We checked in with The Beav last Thursday - one week until the due date! - but nothing new to report. Baby still seems to be happy in my belly. I never would have guessed that my giant beachball would be such a fun place to hang out, but according to the kicks and jabs I get, Baby seems to be entertaining itself pretty well.
Anyway, The Beav wanted to go over what our options of induction will be if things don't start progressing soon. Next week, on our due date (Thursday), we'll get an ultrasound to check the baby's size and to make sure its got enough fluid to swim around in. So I guess the good news is that one way or another, we'll get to see the baby on its due date! And depending on how things look, we'll talk about when they might induce or wait another week.
All that talk of induction wasn't exactly what I was hoping to hear. I realize that if the baby doesn't start thinking about making an appearance on its own, then induction may be the safest option. But I'm really hoping to be able to avoid it. That night, Erik and I went to dinner at our favorite noodles place in the neighborhood, and I think my fortune said it all:
"Nature, time and patience are the three great physicians."

Thanks, Mom!

As my pregnant days are winding down, I've had a few moments to reflect on this whole experience. There seem to be 3 kinds of pregnant women: those who love the feeling of carrying a child and somehow translate the aches and pains into "the miracle of life" (not sure who you are or where you came from, but more power to ya!), those who put up with the heartburn, cankles, and back pain so that they can have a child (that's me!), and those who didn't expect to be in this position and are miserable being there (see "Billie" from previous post).
Don't get me wrong - those little kicks and now daily hiccups are pretty darn cute, but what's not so cute is seeing me trying to walk these days. It literally is a waddle. And something as simple as carrying a load of laundry down the hall... you try picking up a large watermelon and holding onto it while grabbing a load of clothes out of the dryer. I've become pretty well skilled at picking up things with my feet and flinging them in the air so I can catch them.
So anyway, I'm not sure which of the 3 pregnant types my mom was, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't the 3rd option. Mom, if you were one of those who loved it, then, you're welcome! I'm glad I could provide you with such an amazing experience. But, if you were anything like me, then THANK YOU for carrying me around for 9 months! Thank you for putting up with all of the kicking and rolling around I did in your belly at 3am. Thank you for giving up those foods you loved so I wouldn't get sick, or make you sick. And thank you for wearing the many times ill-fitting maternity clothes so that I could grow big and strong before I was ready to enter the world.
And to Little Lindhjem, you are welcome! :)