Drumroll Please...Baby Sage Has Arrived!

It seems like just last week that I was still collecting maternity clothes and playing around with outfits. Today, I'm all about nursing tops. The 39 weeks flew by. I can barely remember being pregnant now except for the excrutiating contractions that preceded the big day.
The Outdoor Retailer Show cruised into Salt Lake last week and, determined not to miss an appointment, I booked up the days and made my way to Willard Bay for the outdoor demo day. Why the organizers insist on running that event so far away from everything is beyond me- especially when we have at least three other great reservoirs within 30 minutes of the Salt Palace. Instead I hauled my butt about an hour from town to hang on the shore in the 90-degree heat and meet with a few manufacturers like Teva, Garmin, Hobie. I felt fine and still no one really said anything to me about being pregnant (except when I pointed it out myself and then they offered statements of disbelief.) When are you due? they'd ask. Next week! I'd eagerly and proudly reply. If only to be so lucky. The due date came early.
I hit the show on Thursday, making all of my appointments - including the party at the Depot featuring Flock of Seagulls. I stayed the night at Ryan's place with every intention of hitting the show bright and early the next day. Then those damn contractions. Imagine your worst menstral cramps (or, guys, diarrhea) then times by 10. Every five minutes they hit, driving me to screams, pillow clutching and pummeling, and thoughts of guns and bullets. I couldn't take the pain but the hospital told me to wait until these contractions were THREE minutes apart rather than five. You have got to be joking, I thought. After three hours, the status hadn't changed but I couldn't sit around. We drove home to Park City at 6 a.m. where I collapsed on my bed from exhaustion and managed to sleep...for 15 minutes before the next round of contractions. Stef called in a prescription for Lortab and I laid low on Friday. By nightfall, I was sick of sitting in the house. Ryan and I headed back to Salt Lake for the OWIC Ramp It Up Party at Port O'Call.
The room spun and the appetizers swing-danced in my belly until I was grabbing for empty glasses on the table and hurling into them. I swear to God, I'm telling the truth. I filled four glasses with puke then covered them with napkins. It was too crowded to make a dash for the bathroom safely.
Home by midnight. Contractions by 2 a.m. it had begun again. At 4 a.m. Ryan drove me to St. Mark's. At 5 a.m. I was four centimeters dialated and the epidural flowed. A sigh of relief sped through my body. They left us in the delivery room to sleep and wait for further dialation. at 6 a.m. Stef arrived to tell me that they were going to dose me with pitocin because the epidural had slowed the dilation. More drugs? Cool.
At 10:25 a.m., game on. The head was already peeking and though I could feel absolutely nothing from the belly button down, I held my parapalegic-legs and did an upright version of ab crunches to the delight of my doctor. Three 'pushes' and out popped Sage. It was 10:33 a.m.
Ryan and I can't stop staring at our little girl. She's gorgeous. Of course, I wonder if I just think that beause she's mine but who cares. The 6 lb, 17" tiny creature is beyond anything I could imagine. She's a week old now and still I can't get enough time with her. It's hard to get anything else done as I find myself watching her every little movement and facial expression. She stetches often- like a kitten. She purses her lips like Betty Boop when she's about to wake up for feeding; she scrunches her face when she squeezes out a little green poop. And she's so quiet! Rarely cries and almost always asleep, she's too tiny for much more.
Sage isn't sleeping through the night but she's making a valiant attempt. She'll wake at 2 a.m., 4:30 a.m. and then 10 a.m. I can handle the hours (look, I'm writing this blog at 2) but Ryan is a mess and can be quite irritating when he's woken like this. He's here on paternity leave and will go back to Salt Lake and work next week. His mom has been here all week as well but she leaves Monday. She came to help out but I don't need it- not yet. So this was more a time for Grandma to bond. My mom will be here Thursday.
Well, I've babbled enough and need to try to sleep before the baby wakes and needs a boob. I've posted photos at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pcskigal/album?.dir=/e9dere2&.src=ph&.tok=phO3WXFB4LlCA7Fa if you care to surf over to yahoo!
P.S.-We're still in need of small Happy Heinys pocket and Wallypop All In One cloth diapers if you are thinking of sending a gift. We need about 20 of these things to start cloth diapering her but we only have 5 so far. They are pretty cool inventions. You can check them out at http://babysbottomline.com & http://www.thestorkwearhouse.com.

38 Weeks Pregnant. Ugh.

The magazines aren't kidding. As I get closer to popping, my sleep has gone to hell, the baby now moves in the middle of the night instead of just before I fall asleep, the belly weighs too much and I feel like a cow. The good news is that although Stef says I'm about 70 percent effaced, there is no dilation. The baby has moved lower, head down, and it's now a waiting game. I can apparently safely make it through the Outdoor Retailer's Show which ends Sunday. The prescription for this week is rest and no sex. My doctor told me there's a strong chance that sex could induce labor and I don't want to take any chances.
The biggest downfall now with having a 27-year-old, testosterone-filled boyfriend is that he's not very understanding when I say, "No sex this week." The begging last night was borderline desperate and definitely disturbing. Nine times out of 10 I'm happy to oblige; but this week "NO" means no. And he wasn't giving up. It hurt my feelings because he wasn't listening to me and didn't care about what I needed and wanted. He kept pressuring me. It's cool that he still feels attracted to the nine-month pregnant chick but I started to get the feeling that it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with releasing his 'tension.'
It was all about him getting some because he had been out of town last week. How is it going to be once the baby's born?? Stef says no intercourse for six weeks to allow the privates to heal. Six weeks will be an eternity to Ryan. I don't think we've gone six days in the past three years. I know that I can trust him but that doesn't mean he will be supportive and understanding during this period. Like I need to add guilt and sexual pressure to everything else that will transpire over the next two months. Perhaps I'm worrying over nothing and should just wait and see. Hmmm. Maybe all of my hormones are running amok and making me paranoid.
I certainly am not thinking straight after just two hours of sleep. The future- something very hard to imagine at this point. I can't even imagine giving birth, let alone being a mother for the rest of my life. There are sooo many "what ifs" at this point. I don't regret my decision to become pregnant. It's just that I could always draw an outline of my life and for the first time I'm drawing a huge blank. Check back for the final belly photos.

37 weeks....three more to go!!

Whoa! Where does the time go? All of a sudden, my doctor (Stef Singer) is telling me I'm 60 percent effaced and ready to pop. I still haven't swollen up or gotten any of the usual pregnant chick symptoms. Just lots of peeing. I find that the occasional Ambien (as prescribed!) will get me a good night's sleep without running to the toilet at 4 a.m. I highly recommend keeping a small stash on hand if you are thinking of getting knocked up. When I get to that point where I am sooo tired I'm beyond able to fall asleep, out comes my little blue friend.

But I'm told that no matter how icky I feel now, once I give birth I will wish I could put her back inside.
My mom predicts the Big Day to occur between Aug. 15 - 20 (instead of the Aug.22 due date). If only Sage can forestall her entry into this world until after the Outdoor Retailer Show next week. I have people to see and places to go! Tis not the time for hospital visits.

It's getting progressively more unbearable to work. All I want to do is lie down and take the pressure off my belly. It doesn't help to have 100-degree heat for the past two weeks. Thankfully, we have rain and 70 degrees this week.

Hats off to you women out there who put on 30 to 60 pounds during a pregnancy. I've gained 19 and feel like a Thanksgiving Turkey 24-7. Only during the first few moments of waking in the morning do I forget I'm pregnant. I wake up, lie still and it's as if it were all a dream...until I swing my feet over the mattress edge and scamper for the toilet. Another tip: when you urinate, lift your belly up to make sure you totally empty your bladder. I liken it to that extra shake guys do just as they're finishing up.

Sage doesn't move much and when she does it's only a soft rolling feel, she's adjusting her position? There's just no room for her in there. She gets the hiccups a ton and that can be annoying but just like when you get them, as soon as you ignore them, they go away. They feel like someone flicking your belly from the inside with an index finger - a rhythmic thumping. She had them tonight during the movie. I went to a screening of The Descent - a horror film about a group of girls who go caving and find themselves stuck in a cavern with these subhuman naked dudes that feast on them one by one. The tension from their trapped situation alone was enough to get my heartrate up. What a ride. I screamed my head off. I'm sure that's not something most babies hear in utero. If you've ever wondered whether horror films can bring on labor, I'll let you know.

Ryan is home this week visting his family and has asked me to wait until he gets back to have our baby. Uh, sure, Babe. My mother and father were here last week and then Ryan's mom will be in town as soon as the baby's born. Nothing like a pregnancy to get everyone involved I guess. But I welcome the attention. I'm completely at a loss and expect to feel overwhelmed shortly. All I know about babies is from what I've read recently. I never had to raise any kids; and babysitting was just a way to make some extra bucks on weeknights when I was 13.

My mom has surprised me. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth but she has gone from pretending I'm not pregnant and telling me "this is your thing, you'll have to do it alone", to flying out here, taking me shopping for baby stuff and going to the doctor with me. I tried so hard not to let her aloofness bother me that I had no idea how much I really needed and wanted her love and support through this experience. It was incredible having them here. They got to see my growing belly in the flesh and not just here on my blog. Better late than never!

I think the house is just about in order. Tenaya's been groomed, the baby clothes washed and organized, an overnight bag packed for the hospital, my friend Deb (the coolest B&B owner in Park City- Old Town Guest House) on standby for the ride to St. Mark's Hospital and soon I'll set up the bassinet in my room. Thank you again for your gifts and hand-me-downs. I couldn't have stocked up like this on my own. No way. So a zillion hugs, kisses and good karma to you.

I have another doctor's appt. on Wednesday. Check back this weekend as I'll let you know what Stef says.