BENJAMIN EDWARD LEWICKI

Hello world. We're finally home! Well, I guess I should start back at the beginning...Its kind of a long story, but I show up at the end, so Mom thinks it's worth it.

Monday, Mom was determined to walk until I arrived. No one thought she could seriously "walk me out" , but she and her friend Rebekah walked some pretty big hills, and went a lil faster than mom usually walks. Little did they know, I was dropping down in place for my big arrival soon, and life went on as usual for a Monday. Dad was super late at the office with college students, and Mom watched Dancing with the stars and took a really long bath. She kept thinking she should clean the bathroom floors, but went to sleep at 11 without doing a thing. Daddy got home between 1 and 2 and everybody slept good for a couple hours...Then things got exciting.

We're a little fuzzy on the exact times, but around 4AMish, Mom noticed that she had been out of bed so many times to go to the bathroom since 3 that she couldn't count them. So she started timing them and by 4:45ish she woke up Dad to let him know that her contractions were 3-11 minutes apart, and averaged 6ish min apart...After announcing this, Daddy started snoring, so Mommy tried to sleep too.

She woke up 4 minutes later, and kept waking up 3-9 minutes consistently until 5:30. Then she called first nurse. Mommy didn't want to take any trips to the hospital just for them to tell her to go back home and wait, so she was VERY hesitant to say she was in labor. The nurse on the phone said that unless they were all 3-7 minutes apart, they were probably unimportant, so just to try to go back to sleep. Mom tried...but then the next half hour the contractions were not only close, but they hurt her pretty bad. She woke up Daddy again and told him that she wanted to start packing and kinda wanted to go to the hospital. She was scared to actually say she was in labor, but her contractions hurt so bad she just wanted to be by a dr. Daddy was SOOOO tired from a late night working, and around 5:45 it registered that it could be a special morning and he needed to get his game face on. So he took a shower, and they packed some stuff and by 6:50 they were at the hospital.

The details of where to go and what to do were a little fuzzy in the excitement of the moment, so it took a couple tries to get the right floor. We got there and they seemed to question if Mom was actually in labor, and they stuck us in a super tiny room with a small bed (without pillows) and a horrible flickering light that made the room very erie. The nurse was kinda crabby and momma started hurting enough to cry a little bit. She was dialated to a 3 and definately in labor. People started moving a lot faster and that was exciting.

The rest of the time line is fuzzy, but mid-morning mommy was dialated to a 5 and realized that the pain she was experiencing could be prevented. Her plan was to go drugless as long as she could, but to be open minded to the idea of getting help. She knew if it only lasted another hour or two she could do it, but there was also the possibility that things could go A LOT longer. After realizing this, and going through another contraction, she called for the epidural. She wanted the nurses to decide for her weather to get the epidural or not, but they wouldn't...Dad didn't like to see her in pain, so they decided that they would just try it. That was a good decision. She dialated from a 5 to a 7 in just a few minutes. Then she took a 45 minute nap.

They woke her up after her hard sleep. (she snored pretty loud) After a little bit there was her main nurse and two students in the room with us. Daddy was being such a good help and it made things pretty easy for mom. The next time they checked they said it was game time, and the nurse and daddy helped mom push through contractions. It was hard to push without feeling what was going on, but Daddy helped SO much and after about 8 pushes in an hour, and a great dr (Dr Beer), they got me out! It was AWESOME. Daddy saw I was a boy first, and got to cut my cord. Mommy cried a little, and everybody agreed I was pretty handsome.

There are a lot more details, but I'm pretty hungry so we'll have to wait and tell you our stories later. The main point is IM HERE!

40th WEEK NEWS

I can't believe it! Week 40. Although I can't believe the end is here, I cant imagine this beloved process taking any longer. The thrid trimester has went by at a snail's pace; especially this last month. As I have told many of you, over all, I have truely loved being pregnant. I loved it untill week 35ish however. I have never been skilled at finishing projects with the vivacity that I begin them with, and unfortunately baby growing is no different. It didn't help when week 37 came and I started being referred to as "Full Term." That is a term that should be illegal to use until the last day of the 40th week. I dont want my baby to arrive a moment before it should, healthily speaking, but if my baby is full term, that tells me, it should come now! So for 3 long weeks, I have felt over-due.

As far as doctor updates...I am measuring around 36 weeks, and the baby continues to stay in position(head down.) I am now 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. My amniotic fluid went from a 5.5 to a 12.9. I like to think that my constant water guzzling was to thank for the increase. I am starting to have trace amounts of protein in my urine, therefore, i had to do a 24 hr lab test. It was not enjoyable. My feet have also started to be swollen by the end of the night, which is causing me to kiss my hopes of Ankle Modeling goodbye. My sinus cold is slowly, but surely leaving, which is a HUGE answer to prayer. Its far from completely gone, but I'm no longer a witch(I dont think) and can think about things other than trying to breath.

Joel has been AMAZING the last two days. He has cleaned the carpets, sprayed for bugs, painted and installed doors, put up a shelf, installed the car seat, repaired some walls, and more. I think I nested early, and he is carrying it on, and surpassing my successes. I love him so very much, and love seeing how excited he can be for our baby!

Well, I should be getting some 40th week pictures up tonight, and hopefully that will be the last before we post a baby announcement. Thank you again, for all your prayers and love for lil'lewicki!

all is well

Lil'lewicki updates

• The baby is healthy!
• Placenta growth is full term
• Amniotic Fluid is low. On a range that varies from 5 to 25, we are around 8.5. I need to drink more water
• Approx. weight is 6lbs 13 oz
• 147 - heart rate
• 80% effaced
• Between 1 and 2 cm dilated
  
• More protein in my urine than they would like to see, but not dangerous amts.
• Approx. 2 contractions per hour
• Our head dropped a few weeks ago, and has stayed in position for arrival!

They want to schedule another ultrasound for next week, to check on amniotic fluid levels, but my goal is to walk enough on Sunday that I go into labor Monday. I think my dr. is ok with that plan. Well, I think that is all the news for now! Keep praying that I feel better and am healthy for labor. I think things are getting slightly better. I do wish they would hurry up! Now, i just need to pack my bags!

two weeks to go!

Well, first I have to apologize. I have no current picture. I'm hoping to take one tonight. If you all just close your eyes, imagine my face a little bit puffy, my arms a little jiggly, and a very large, slightly oval watermelon by my belly button, and you no longer need a picture.(oh, and as far as my posterior, i have no idea what it looks like. I've turned my toes over to pedicures, and my legs and booty cant look that large compared to my baby belly:)

I have bad news, other news, and happy news...i'll start from the bottom up...

The bad news is that last Saturday I acquired a horrible cold. Sunday my throat hurt slightly, and Monday I wasted money on a co-payment to find out that I didn't have strep. Tuesday I woke up feeling much worse than the two days before, and got ridiculously spoiled my by wonderful husband who set up a little sick station in the living room. That, plus a long shower made me feel good enough to eat a little bit for supper. I planned on waking up this morning feeling almost all better, but that was not the case. I'm not having horribly regular or painful contractions, but they are enough to wake me up once or twice an hour. The only way to get them to leave is to get out of bed, which moves my bladder which calls for a quick trip to the bathroom. All that to say, I'm not sleeping great, and my throat doesn't want to stop hurting. I called my o.b. today to make sure it was ok that I was taking Tylenol religiously. I have high hopes for tomorrow!

My second bit of news is my dr apt on Thursday. Last week Friday's apt went well but they scheduled an unplanned ultrasound for Thursday. Their main reasoning is to double check placental growth, and amniotic fluid. I grew rather fast during my second trimester, and was consistently two weeks early/big for about 3 months. I then hit 34.5 week measurement, at 32ish weeks, and haven't grown length wise since. My baby also dropped around 35/36 weeks and it is very hard to get an accurate measurement once the baby is head down and in position for delivery. The other minor reason for the ultrasound is my weighting dropping two lbs in a week. This also doesn't concern me much. I'm not consistent about wearing similar fabrics or clothes to my apt, so there could be a lot of variables for that. So there isn't a lot of concern, but it will be nice to double check everything and know that all is well.

The great news, is that with the concern of my cold, and the ultrasound concerns, my baby is seemingly uneffected by all the hullabalu. We are crazy wiggley, and dont seem to be aware that space is VERY limited. Every day we seem to find my ribs a little bit more, and locate lower nerves which hurt pretty bad. All that said, yeah! for wiggles.

Enjoy the weather before our rainy weekend hits and pray for baby lewicki and that our apt goes well tomorrow. Oh, and pray that i feel better in time for this baby to arrive. I idealy would rather not feel like this for D-day!

3 WEEKS and counting

I got an email this week(i get daily emails from "what to expect when you're expecting) which said that I am now officially "full term." This excites/upsets me. I know dr's are smart people and I am assured that if I had the baby tonight, chances are that we would be perfectly healthy. But why must we use the phrase "full term." Do they not realize how impatient and antsy I have become? Do they not know that they have essentially told me, my baby is just hanging out, making me uncomfortable wasting time untill arrival. If we are "full term" now, than why on the calander do I have to wait 3 more weeks? These things do not make sense to me. I wish I knew who to send my comlaint letter to.

I just got back from visiting my little sister, and she got to visually experience my gymnastic baby. I dont think she was quite as impressed as I thought she should be..."weird" was the actual word she used. However, it still amazes me everytime I see our little back/butt move from one side to the other. I cant believe how wiggly we still are, for how little space is available.

My head isn't feeling great for the first time since my massage two weeks ago. At least I now know how to fix it!

I lifted up a 5 lb bag of flour the other day and realized that i have 6 of those sitting on my body...I no longer feel guilty for my lethargic state. I see no need to apologize for my occasional 20 minute naps. It makes a whole lot more sense when it takes just as long to get out of bed as it does to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I'm ginormous.

Speaking of night, I want to give a silent round of applause to JoelBen. I always knew I had a pretty good husband, but am now assured that I have one of the very best. I am pretty miserable to sleep with. Between my bathroom visits, every two hours, my continuous flopping around, my very frequent sighs/loud breathing, to my side/back sleeping induced snoring, he still remains to love me. After the basement failed us both, we are now both back in our bedroom, and hope that this is fully preparing us for parenthood. I think it would be ideal if we could get as much sleep as possible before lil'lewicki arrived, but since that isn't working, we'll just see it as a great tool for what's ahead.

The nursery has been un-active for a while. I went in there a lot for a couple of weeks, but suddenly I have no interest in the room untill I have someone to put in the room. People keep asking if we have everything and its always tricky to answer them. We have everything we need. We were given an AMAZING rocker that completes the room magnificently. I "need" another changing table cover (the fuzzy one off my babies r us registry), the diaper bags, a boppy slip cover, burp rags, and thats about it. If I dont get it by the time baby is here, it will just take one quick stop to babies r us, so i'm not too woried about it. I'm not buying many clothes, and just want to wait till I know gender.

Well I hope our chilly spring is going well for everyone. Between showers and weddings and babies, summer will be here before I knew spring ever arrived. Happy easter to all!