February 2, 2008
Today’s Groundhog Day so that means we’ve arrived at our due date. I’ll save the reflections for another time but I just wanted to put something up here so the break in posting doesn’t cause any false alarms.
As for an update, Anat has been experiencing more contractions. Last night she had a bunch and they’re occurring more frequently but haven’t reached the magic, ‘every 5 minutes for 2 hours’ point yet. We just went on a long walk to try to extend the contractions and we’ll likely do the same after breakfast.
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Posted by akofner
January 31, 2008
Like the last 4 Thursday mornings, today we went to the OB for Anat’s weekly check up. This is what we learned (warning, possibly TMI):
What all that means is that it could be any day now. It also could take another 10 days. Also, if you’re relying on the newsfeed version of this blog for up to the minute information, you should know that it feeds up to 24 hours after I post. A manual refresh is likely to be a better bet if you’re looking for topicality. Did I mention the hospital has Wi-Fi? I love the future.
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Posted by akofner
January 30, 2008
No baby just yet
I promise we’ll let you know
But thanks for calling
Too much work at RAND
This kid better get here soon
Paternity leave
Wish I could sleep more
Many nighttime bathroom trips
Bedpan for Anat?
Mother-in-law’s here
Maybe she’ll cook something good
Mmm, tasty schnitzel
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Posted by akofner
January 29, 2008
I would say waiting is the funnest part, not the hardest part. I could not be more excited to meet the little one who has been kicking me, giving me heartburn, not allowing me to sleep, and making me gain a third of my body weight. I had a job interview today and when it was over I felt like I had just graduated college all over again. I am officially on vacation and the only thing I have to do is pamper myself and wait for our baby to decide that it is time to get out of the womb. It’s like the ultimate vacation, except I can’t move too much or too fast. It’s a more relaxing vacation, if you will.
For months people have been asking me if I am ready. What that means exactly, I am still not sure, but, I think I can finally say that I am. It’s not that I’m in some crazy pain and want this thing out of me. It’s just that I am ready to move on to the next stage in this process. I am ready to take a stab at being a mom. And, if I am going to be completely honest, I am ready to get back into some form of my old body. The four pregnancy outfits I fit into right now are getting old.
So…. I’m at home and I’m waiting. I don’t know the sex of the baby, the weight, the height, the amount of hair, the personality, or what day will be the little one’s birthday, but I am so excited to find out!
1 Comment | Freaked out | Permalink
Posted by anat
January 24, 2008
As of today, depending on whom you ask*, we’re at 9 days and counting until the expected due date. So after going through a period of time where it felt like we were just hanging around and waiting, things have finally started to rock and roll. Check out what’s happened since the last doctor’s appointment:
- We got and assembled a co-sleeper (crib/bassinet) as well as some other baby-related furnishings
- We finally packed a suitcase for the hospital
- Anat changed her last name officially
- We had another doctors appointment and guess what: those ‘menstrual’ cramps that Anat’s been feeling recently are actually pre-labor contractions. The doctor said she’s 1.5 centimeters dilated. The doc even thinks there’s a shot that we’ll deliver around our due date (if not sooner)
- And last but not least (but certainly not most), lowly University of Maryland, the same U of MD that lost home games to American and Ohio Universities, beat the (former) #1 team in the country, University of North Carolina. So what does this have to do with the baby? Well, nothing really… except I hope the kid allows us to watch MD beat Duke this weekend before making his/her way to the world.
*According to the doc, who uses a slightly different metric, we’re due January 30th, but the countdown on this blog which uses patented Kofno-Fetal-Chronography (KFC), is based on a February 2nd date. That is all.
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Posted by akofner
January 17, 2008
OK, Thursday’s not gone. It’s hard coming up with Thursday-related titles every week.
Went to the doctor again this morning. Everything’s fine. Not a whole lot pointing in the direction of an early delivery but who knows. Anat is starting to get some new and different physical sensations but I’ll let her share that. She has also developed a waddle and a fun case of insomnia. I guess not sleeping is good practice.
We still haven’t packed our bag; maybe we’ll pack this weekend. If any of you mothers (or fathers) out there have any suggestions for indispensable items to bring to the hospital, let us know.
Also, we lost all of our phone numbers recently from our cell phones (long story). If we haven’t already asked, please email or call us with your numbers, particularly if you’d like to be called/texted with delivery news.
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Posted by akofner
January 11, 2008
Yesterday we had our 2nd of 5 weekly OB visits that mark the last 5 weeks until the expected delivery date. Nothing major to really report, but I guess no news is good news. Anat and Baby K are both fine. The kid doesn’t seem to be making any hints at being an earlier bird but when I asked if we can postpone packing Anat’s bag a little longer the doc told me, ‘no way.’ So sometime this weekend we’ll probably get around to that.
Oh… and tomorrow the kid’s at full term.
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Posted by akofner
January 7, 2008
Research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that as many as 80 percent of all car seats are improperly installed and used.
Guess who installed his child’s car seat correctly on the first try? Yup…. me.
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Posted by akofner
January 3, 2008
At this point in my pregnancy I’ve thought about labor quite a bit. I have thought about the way I would like it to go and the millions of different ways it could go wrong. It’s the truth, I can’t help it. But, at the end of each of these thought processes I’ve relaxed and remembered that it doesn’t matter how labor goes, as long as baby and I are healthy at the end. Bottom line.
Well today Aaron and I went to the doctor for our 36 week appointment, the first of five weekly appointments where we look around and check on things. The doctor told us that I tested positive for the group strep b bacteria. What this means is that I have a bacteria (yeah!!) that is not at all harmful to adults, that could be harmful to the baby as it comes down the birth canal. This isn’t a big deal at all, it just means that I need to get antibiotics while laboring, before I deliver. Not a problem, unless my water breaks. If my water breaks and I have not progressed enough then I need to be induced so that the bacteria does not have time to make its way to the baby. I picture those little green germs you see in commercials making their way up … very strange!
Instantly my vision of labor has changed. I can no longer stay home through most of my labor as I had anticipated doing, and there is a chance that I will need to be induced. While I am grateful that this is really not a big deal at all, and that medicine is so good that with a little penicillin my baby will be healthy, it is a good reminder that labor is natural. What I mean, is that labor does not care what my vision is, or when my due date is. Things are going to progress the way nature intended and it is my duty to just stay calm and ride the waves. I had my first test this morning and I passed!
On a different note — I had my first contraction last night. Crazy! It woke me up and hurt like an intense menstrual cramp. When I told the doctor this morning, she laughed and said they are going to get a lot more intense than that! This month is going to be interesting.
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Posted by anat
