Jembon

Violet was an easy baby. People liked to tell us that the next one would be a handful and we were dooooooomed and all that. But folks, Jem is an even easier baby. HA! HA TO YOU ALL!!!

The boy sleeps, poops, eats, sleeps. That is all. Why has it taken me this long to hobble downstairs and update the blog already? Lots of good company upstairs! Nana was here for a week taking care of me, and now Oma is here. I am a very spoiled mama.

Anyhoo, Jem -

I was even a bit concerned that he was sleeping too much, but the midwives assured me that his 4 ounce weight gain in a day and a half is indicitive that he is doing just fine. He certainly doesn't sleep through a meal. I call him my Jembon (jambon is 'ham' in French). He is completely lovely and a good natured boy and we are just in total love with him.

Violet has been great. Really good, and very helpfull. If she's been outside for a while, the first thing she asks when she comes in is "How's Jem, Mama?". She hasn't had to share me too much though, as there has been someone here to dote on her since Jem arrived. The true test will be Thursday, when I am parenting solo. I'm thinking lots of TV that day.

Proof

At long last...that special time has come...

Wait for it...

Here he is!

We are back from the hospital! We are having a lovely sunday night family dinner!

Violet is being a super sweet big sister.

More later...

jesse

Jem...its a boy's name...REALLY!

Yeah!

Yesterday, September 13th, at 10:16 pm, a baby was pulled forth from Nadia's womb and when we saw those teensy little testicles, the long foretold name of Jem Roman Collins was thrust upon him.

Yes, it is a boy's name. It comes form "To Kill a Mockingbird", so there.

Jem was born weighing 10 lbs 10 oz. He is a big baby. He looks kind of like someone else's 3 month old. He kind of looks like he might be an Aztec.

Nadia is doing very well, she is a fast healer, and Jem is nursing up a storm already.

Unfortunately there are no photos available just yet...but hopefully by tonight there will be!

Nana is on her way, Nadia is at the Hospital with Jem, Oma is headed back home to look after her cat, Grampa is going home to drink an entire bottle of wine and Violet and Daddy are about to have some naps.

Zzzz,
Jesse

40+10

At 7 am Thursday (unless I am bumped by an emergency) I'll be donning that sexy hospital garb and we'll be getting this party started.
I just might have me my giant baby by tomorrow afternoon!

Jesse will update the blog for me if I have to stay in hospital for a couple of days.

Till then!

40+9

Welcome back, cervix!
It was in the lost and found at the Greyhound bus terminal, having been discovered trying to board a bus to Miami. And not behaving as a good cervix should, of course. Not dilated one little bit. This makes breaking the amniotic sac impossible.
Sooo, after weeping through my entire midwife appointment, I convinced them to schedule an induction within the next 48 hours (or face a duel with pistols at dawn tomorrow). It's complicated because I am not allowed to have a chemical induction, as this would put too much stress on my scarred uterus. The good news is they have a balloon they can manually stretch your cervix out with now.
Hey, balloons? Sounds like a party to me!

I'll let you know when the party starts. Just waiting for the hospital to call me back with a time.

40+8

Seriously.

Today I had the ultrasound, and I'm happy to report that the baby is looking perfect and ready to be born. I had a short glimpse of a squishy face sucking on a fist (!).
The less super news is that they estimate the weight of the baby to be....
TEN POUNDS EIGHT OUNCES.
Good lord. That's enough for two babies!

Tomorrow, my last midwife appointment, as I'm not leaving until something invasive and labour inducing happens. Or plans to do it the next day.

Lately, whenever I am trying to do something like get off the couch, put my socks on, or breathe, this song keeps popping into my head. I have to share it with you. The artist is a schizophrenic street person named Wesley Willis (sadly, now deceased). An odd sort of genius. It's called "I'm Sorry That I Got Fat, I Will Slim Down". The video was not done by Wesley, and I don't think it does the song much justice. Just close your eyes when listening. Please enjoy.



I WILL SLIM DOWN.

40+6

Still here.
Doing....stuff. Do you like stuff?

Cervix still AWOL (not dilated, although that was my sincere hope at the time it went missing).

Hey, Violet gave herself a huge purple bump on her forehead from falling into a shopping cart at the grocery store today. We put a bag of ice from the fish counter on her head and gave her a popicle. She's fine, my tough girl.
This will be excellent for upcoming family photos!

Ultrasound on Monday to make sure my placenta hasn't shrivelled into a prune or joined my cervix on holiday (leads seem to be pointing to Centretown!).

Thanks for checking in and waiting with me.

40+4

I had an appointment with my midwife today, who was going to stretch my cervix
(called a 'stretch and sweep') to see if that could get labour started.

She couldn't find my cervix.


I'm making missing posters right now to post around the neighbourhood.

Anywaaaay, here is cute picture of Jesse and UV.

40+2...nuthin'

The best kind of help you can get is naked toddler help.

40+1

Well, all quiet on the uterine front so far. I will post as soon as something birthy happens.
If you are wondering what the 40+1 means, it's 40 weeks pregnant +1 day overdue.
To keep us all occupied....

Short and sweet, Violet sings "Twinkle, Twinkle".

Dido and Babcia Libby gave us a handycam when they were here visiting in August! It's pretty much the best thing ever. We've been taking videos steadily, but only until today have I managed to get all the correct software loaded and 700 videos transfered to the computer. Last time I posted a video, it was through YouTube. This time, I'm trying out the Blogger option. Let me know if it works as well.