Sadie's first week

Well we made it though the first week as parents. My Mom has been here to help out and take care of all of us, she has allowed us to sleep, cooked and cleaned. It is invaluable help. We also have had very sweet friends call and stop by. We are so thankful for the encouragement as we navigate being new parents.

Sadie looks just like her dad, it is amazing when you compare Mike's baby pictures to her. I was amazed to see a baby with such thick black hair come from me, I was bald until I was two! She does have my dimples and hands. I try to capture her smile but keep missing it! She is so sweet, I could just eat her up (when she is not screaming bloody murder :)) She is very expressive and makes the cutest faces, we love just staring at her.

I am starting to get into a routine or at least figure out some of what I am supposed to do. I am slowly getting over fear of her not breathing while she sleeps and trying to sleep as much as I can while she is down. I was not brave enough to have her in her room yet, so she is sleeping in the pack and play in our room. We went to the pediatrician and she has regained her birth weight so it seems that the nursing is going well. Hard to believed it has already been a week, it is such a blur.

I am starting to feel better after the c-section, the first few days were pretty rough and we spent 4 nights in the hospital. It was nice to have the extra time to learn about nursing and have an opportunity to recover. The nurses where so great and took such good care of us. When we left on Wednesday it was time to take her home. I almost can't believe that they let you leave without a test or something! It is amazing how much a little one can change so much. We feel so blessed to have a healthy happy baby. Thank you all for your comments, calls and prayers.

Sadie Grace Zipser

So for those of you who haven't heard the news through "the grapevine", Sadie Grace Zipser was born on Saturday night, August 15th at 11:24pm via C-Section. She weighed 6 lbs. 11 ozs. and is 19 1/2 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great. Mom has been pretty sore since yesterday from the surgery, but has made a lot of recovery process today. The nurses and staff have been very helpful and it looks like we all will be going home on Wednesday.

Sadie came out with a big head of dark hair and dimples, so it seems she is a good mix of mom and dad.

Sarah will do a little more "blogging" in detail later, but just wanted to keep you all posted.

Thanks for all you well wished everyone!

She's on her way!

For those of you who have grown accustomed to my wife's blogs on this site, well...you're gonna get a one-time dose of me (Mike) as my wife is now officially in labor! We woke up this morning and Sarah said she was feeling some discomfort and thought her water broke. We weren't sure and it eased a bit, so we had a pretty normal Saturday for us.

Went to breakfast over at "The Pancake House" in Uptown this morning and then went to go see a movie at 1:30pm. It was "Sarah's pick", so we saw "The Time Traveler's Wife" (definitely wasn't on my movie watching radar!) Sarah is sitting next to me as I am typing this and let me assure you all...it was bad. I mean, real bad. I guess some books just don't translate to the big screen.

After the movie, Sarah called the doctor and he said to come on in to the hospital. After 2 hours of checking Sarah and monitoring the baby, he determined we could probably go home. Just as she stood up and went to the bathroom to change, the water officially broke and here we stay!

So, now we are just hanging, watching some TV and Sarah is reading some mind-numbing gossip magazines.

Thank you to everybody for your calls, texts, and well-wishes!

We will keep you posted!

Update

Well, I have decided to not schedule the c-section until my next appointment. This will give me a chance to make it to 40 weeks and to see what happens over the next couple of days. Funny how this decision has been so consuming and threw me for a loop this week. I guess I just had a vision in my head and this was an unexpected curve ball. I also notice that I tend to avoid things I am not ready to deal with and mull it over too much!

I appreciate your advice and prayers. I don't know why I am so indecisive and scared of surgery. Maybe because I am not working but this has been a worry all week. I feel much better having made a decision, or at least procrastinated it :)

I am looking forward to the weekend and even more to knowing our little one will be here by this time next week! I plan on going to see the "Time Travelers Wife" this weekend, out to dinner and relaxing with Mike. I also have my new arbonne products that I got from Nichole so I am looking forward to experimenting with those too! I remember seeing the previews for the movie about a month ago and thinking, I will definitely have the baby by then :) I hope everyone has a fun weekend and I will let you know as soon as she gets here.

Change of Plans??

Well today during our visit the doctor checked me and I am not engaged, effaced or dilated at all. He was concerned about the lack of progress and my measurement so he sent me over to the perinatologist for a sonogram to check fluid levels and see the baby's position. It appears that she is floating comfortably well above the place she needs to be. Both physicians said that I most likely (85%) will end up with a C-section because at this point it appears that her head is too big for my pelvis. They said that 1st time pregnancies usually start to desend into the birth canal by 2weeks prior to labor and if they don't that 8 out of 10 times it is because there is not enough room. They basically gave us 2 options, schedule a c-section this week prior to labor starting or wait until labor starts (if it does by next wed) and try to push and then decide about a c-section. Both of them said that they are almost sure that I will end up with one anyway so why wait.

I am very frustrated and confused on what to do. I didn't picture it going down this way and I am terrified of surgery. I have several questions for my doctor about what to do and what it means for both of us. The good news is that the baby is happy and I am not leaking fluid so there was no need to rush to it today. They both said that they wouldn't feel comfortable going past next week and that inducing right now would not be an option due to a long cervix and no dilation.

I guess right now the question is how much will change in a week and if I want to try to experience labor and pushing only to end up with a c-section.

Part of me is really sad that I won't get the "honey its time" labor experience and wonder if it means all future births will be c-section. I also observed a c-section in college during rounds when I thought I wanted to be a doctor and it has been with me ever since. I can't get the image of cutting out of my head and this was the one thing I wanted to avoid. I know plenty of you have had them and I would appreciate any thoughts from you. I just don't want to rush to surgery if I could be in the 20%but I also don't want to exhaust myself for no reason or stress the baby.

Thanks for your prayers and advice. Either way it looks like we will have a baby within a week!!!

Still Waiting

Today is officially the single digit countdown till my due date, 9 more days. I am still waiting for her to make her arrival. Each day I wonder if today is the day. I wonder if I will know (everyone says it is pretty clear when you are in pain) when it is time. I think I have watched too many episodes of 'I didn't know I was pregnant':)

The last week I was officially done with work and spent a lot of time on the couch and watching TV and reading. I have tried to set specific tasks for the day that keep me motivated. For example, hair appt on tuesday was a big day. Catherine and Amanda came by last week to visit and that was quite a treat also. Mike and I watched the entire first season of "How I met your mother" this weekend, it is really funny. Each day seems so long, although I am trying to be patient and enjoy. I am just so excited to meet her, a little nervous about the delivery and recovery, and feel like it is Christmas Eve and I am 6 years old!

I will keep you posted, we go to the doctor tomorrow for our 39 week appointment. He hasn't checked me yet to see if I am dialated but said he would tomorrow. Mike and I set an over/under on the weight. I am thinking over 7lbs he says under so we will see. I just hope she is not a 10 pounder like he was :)