Welcome, cousin Michael!

Well, Aly's twin cousin Michael wasn't supposed to say hello to the world until June 3, which is when Aly is due to make her appearance. But, well, nature had other plans. Amniotic banding caused his right arm to stop growing after his elbow, and lately it was cutting off his nourishment from the placenta. If he'd stayed inside his mommie even one more week, he would have died. Thank goodness for modern medicine. The little miracle baby was born six weeks early and is obviously a fighter!


Michael Allyn Dimock joined this world on April 22, 2009, weighing in at a whopping 3lb 11oz, and measuring 16 inches in length. He was breathing on his own, but it was labored, so he is getting a little supplemental oxygen. He started getting jaundice today, so he's under powerful heating lamps with his little baby goggles on (it's like he's in a tanning bed). He's feeding through a tube, but his intake has already doubled per feeding since yesterday. He's a good sucker and loves his pacifier. His mama, my sister Rachel, will be leaving the hospital tomorrow, but Michael must stay in his current accommodations until he holds his body temperature on his own, feeds without a tube, and breathes without oxygen. It'll probably be a few weeks yet, but I'm positive he'll be just fine. He's such a strong little guy. I can't wait to meet him!

Third Trimester Pains

I have always been a huge whiner, and people get sick of it, so for the most part I've tried not to whine to excess during this pregnancy... but... UGH! I am in so much pain!!

I think the relaxin and the weight gain have finally caught up with me, because my knees, hips and back are killing me! My knees are especially noticeable for the first time today. I have bad knees (had surgery on the left one when I was 15), and the last time they felt this bad was when I was in Ireland in September after walking around Dublin for a week (just ask Meg about all that whining!). I feel like I need to get a brace for both knees and apply heat therapy to all my joints. Tylenol never works for me, so I'm not bothering with it.

I REALLY hope this pain does not last the remainder of the pregnancy. I may only have 5.5 weeks left, but that is 5.5 weeks too long to go without narcotics for this kind of pain! Somebody shoot me!! I think I'll start researching ways to self-induce...

Baby shower fun! x2

I had my second baby shower on Friday, which means I'm all done now. Next week I'm going to hit the baby stores with my dad (who hasn't gotten me anything) to pick up items I still need... like more bottles, bath time stuff, diapering accessories, etc.

I had such a blast at my party. I had one of my pregnant sisters in attendance (the other is on bed rest in Illinois), my 3yo nephew, my grandmother, my mother, my bro's gf of 6 years, and my three best friends from different eras of my life (high school, college, and my first job). I enjoyed the intimate gathering, the games (and I usually hate baby shower games), and of course the gifts. I got quite a haul considering the size of the party. Below is a sneak peek of one of the games we played. You can see all my pictures on facebook.

Fun Photoshoot!

A freelance designer I work with on and off is also a part-time photographer, and she wanted maternity shots for her portfolio... so I got tons of awesome artsy photos taken of me for free! So far she's just sent me a few of the photos, but I love them. I can't wait to see more and more and more and more! Too bad she has more to do with her life than sift through all the pics and retouch them. I suppose I'll get all the good ones within a few weeks, but these were my sneak peeks. :)

I'm 31 weeks, 4 days.

View more photos on her blog.

Baby shower fun!

Well, I had my first baby shower over the weekend. It was thrown by my coworkers, and spouses and rugrats were welcome. It was sooo much fun. There were five children, but I swear it seemed like 20, especially when two were screaming at the same time. Seeing all these little ones, when two years ago only one of them was even born, made it really hit home for me that I'm going to have my own little girl very soon, and she's going to grow up very fast! Here's a link to my facebook photo album. Check it out to see how much fun it was. There are plenty of cute baby pictures to oo and ahh at. :)

Below are a few of the gifts I received. I loved everything I got!

Gorgeous hand-made quilt from Andrea:

Hungry Catterpillar stacking rings was the hit of the party with the kids:

I am going to have to get a smaller size of this adorable 3T dress. I can't wait 3 years to put Aly in it:

PINK butterfly dress. Mom will love putting Aly in this:

And we're in the final stretch!

Yesterday marked the start of week 28, which means I have begun the third trimester. It's true what they say: Pregnancy really does go by faster than you think. I still feel like June will take forever to get here, but hey, I do have two thirds of my pregnancy behind me. What's one more third?

This morning I had to take my 1-hour glucose test to find out if I have gestational diabetes. Aly really enjoyed those first 10 minutes after I drank what tasted like a flat Sunkist. She was bouncing off the walls of her little home, and I swear I heard a teeny "wahoo!" from under my skin. Then, my tiny little child with way too much sugar in her system did what all kids will do — she crashed. I didn't feel her for the last 50 minutes of waiting or while I was being drained of blood. I only felt her after I got home, because she got the hiccups. Now she's sleeping again. Poor little sugar-filled baby.

I don't think I'll know until my next OB appt. (next week) about whether I have gestational diabetes. I don't think I do, but the test will tell for sure! (Or it will tell for maybe, and I'll have to go back for a 3-hour test.)

Maternity Tour

Today I had childbirth/infant care class, followed by a tour of the maternity ward at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital. I'm very impressed with the private mother-baby suites. There currently are 12 rooms in which mother labors, delivers, and recovers, and there will be many more ready by June or July.


At Shady Grove, they never separate mother and baby (unless you do C-section, and then it's only for a very short time), so the baby even sleeps in the room. They have jacuzzi tubs in every room, which you're welcome to labor in. They can equip the rooms with squatting bars if you want to attempt giving birth that way. They also allow you to control the lights (high vs. dim) and play any music or dvds you want to in order to keep yourself relaxed.They have birthing balls (just a few) if you want to use those to keep relaxed, but suggest you bring your own in case they're all in use. All in all, I was very impressed and am looking forward to giving birth there.

Basically, the environment is much like being at home and you have freedom to labor in any way that you'd like to try. I'm pretty sure I'm going to try both the jacuzzi while laboring and the squatting for delivery. I'm really happy I chose this hospital and am looking forward to a "pleasant" birthing experience. Of course pleasant is in quotes, because I do know the reality of the pain and hard work involved!