First Flickr video

Kaitlin fights the pacifier by Corinne S.

My first video posted to Flickr is, of course, of baby Katie. While this video may look like I'm forcing the pacifier on her, I am not. She likes it, but sometimes gets confused and frustrated about how to initiate sucking. She does this periodically when breast feeding as well...

Pretty in turquoise

Pretty in turquoise by Corinne S.

Our two big milestones in the last 24 hours: introduction of the
pacifier and first vomit. I don't expect these things are related.

Home again

A few short months and voilà by Corinne S.

We came home from the hospital today.

Welcome Kaitlin Irene Sherry

Welcome Kaitlin Irene Sherry by Corinne S.

This photo doesn't do our beautiful girl justice, but it'll have to suffice for now. Kaitlin (aka Katie) made her entrance into the world around 5:30 this evening. She weighed in at 9.3 lbs and was 22" long. She was ultimately delivered by c-section. Labor began around 9pm Sunday night after some gentle prodding from her parents (she was 5 days past her due date afterall). Contraction frequency increased to every ~3 minutes around 4am. We went to the hospital at 5:30 am. Our Doula Rebecca joined us at the hospital in triage and my own OB came on call at 8am. After a relatively short but intense day of laboring, I was fully dilated around 2:30pm though my water hadn't broken and Katie was still at -2 station. The doctor broke my water then, only to discover that Katie wasn't presenting her head properly (at the time they thought she was presenting her face). We tried laboring down and later an epidural, but she wasn't descending. We agreed to proceed to a c-section around 4:30pm. When they went in to retrieve her they got a big surprise: the cheeks they'd been feeling were of an entirely dufferent variety. Our girl was breech! So here we are in the hospital tonight. A new happy, healthy family unit. We expect to be here until Thursday morning. For more photos in the coming days go to www.Flickr.com/groups/Kaitlin. -Corinne & Benjamin

Missed a deadline

Family portrait--40 weeks by Corinne S.

The baby isn't yet aware of deadlines and how they're supposed to work. Yesterday was her due date, but she's still chilling out in my womb. We're planning to avoid medical intervention before 42 weeks if possible, though we'll probably try some natural methods to nudge her along if she doesn't make a move on her own pretty soon.

Check out our family portrait series slide show on Flickr to see my belly shrink as the evolution of this little being plays in reverse. ;)

Obama Wins!

Obama just won the election. My baby can be born now. :)

Obama Wins Election - NYTimes.com

I guess it's fall

It's raining and it's gonna keep raining. Plus nest weekend we "fall back" an hour. Ouch. Good thing I'll have a new baby to keep me occupied. ;-)

Pre-baby errands

Pre-baby errands by Corinne S.

While I countdown to Blueberry's arrival (on "the outside"), I'm doing a variety of pre-baby errands. Right now I'm getting my hair colored so all the gray hair doesn't make our girl think her mommy's disasterously old. As if that were possible. ;-)

Last pre-baby work day

Last pre-baby work day by Corinne S.

Today was my last day in the office before my leave. I guess I'm on
leave now!

Plus or minus 2 weeks

Tomorrow I'll be 38 weeks pregnant and, according to BabyCenter, little Blueberry has been "full term" since last week. I'm now in the weeks where I could go into labor "anytime" [in the next 4 weeks].

(For those who don't know, the way they count the weeks of pregnancy the full gestation period is 40 weeks and normal full term delivery is 40 weeks +/- 2.)

While I'm committed to the idea of not inducing labor before 42 weeks unless medically necessary, the idea of being pregnant for 4 more weeks is quite unpleasant. It seems to me, as a first-timer, that the baby may be "dropping" already, which really wreaks havoc on the bladder.

My last day at work before maternity leave is Friday, so this week will continue to be quite busy. I'm looking forward to getting some extra sleep next week though. Baby--don't come before I get some good napping in! Okay?

Last baby shower

Knitted blanket Eileen made by Corinne S.

I had a ladies-only baby shower on Saturday with my family and a few friends. It was a really nice event, hosted by Claire. See more pictures on Flickr.

Triage again

Triage drive-through by Corinne S.

Friday evening I had to make my second brief visit to Triage at Swedish. Nothing was at all wrong though--they were just checking my blood pressure because of my hands and feet swelling and a few other things.

I just wish we'd been able to get my wedding ring off. I've tried the tricks and it's looking more and more like I'll have to cut it off. Damn.

Benjamin's Surprise Baby Shower

Benjamin's Surprise Baby Shower by Corinne S.

Benjamin's incredibly generous co-workers threw him a surprise baby shower yesterday afternoon at work. So thoughtful! They got him everything from the snuggly green flannel sheets we wanted to a great bottle of Scotch and a cigar. Not only that, there's a sizable gift card for Babies R Us that's likely to go toward the Dutailier glider Benjamin wants so much. Yay!

Cute picture

Corinne and Benjamin by Rob Gruhl

Rob took this cute picture of us at his birthday party last weekend. :)

Creativity with mundane design elements

Those wacky Japanese designers. ;-) More creative barcodes on WeirdAsiaNews.com.

The final 4 (fingers crossed)

Today I had my regular biweekly OB appointment and my doctor told me I have one more biweekly appointment and then I'll be on the weekly schedule.

After the appointment I went to schedule my next appointments and I ended up scheduling every appointment from now unitl my due date. How many is that? Just 4. The countdown begins. ;-)

Threshold

I imagine that there's a threshold at which the discomfort of pregnancy outweighs the fears and responsibilities associated with childbirth and having a newborn and you think to yourself "Let's have this baby now!"

I'm not there yet, but I think I'm on that road. I'll endevour to arrive at that particular destination at the same time I go into labor. ;-) Wish me luck and timing.

Father-son birthday

Rok & Keston look at photos by Corinne S.

Today we went to a birthday party for Rob and his son Keston. Keston turned 1. Rob is older than that.

To celebrate the birthdays, Rob and Steph rented a photo studio in Pioneer Square for the day and had the party there. Rob rented gigantic lenses and other equipment and seemed to have a blast photographing all of the party attendees. I look forward to seeing the result on Rob's Flickr page.

Takeout exchange

Leaving work tonight I realized I could bring home what to me has become a standard lunch choice but for Benjamin is an interesting new food option. No one says you always have to get takeout for two.

So maybe he can bring me home my favorite Thai and Mexican takeout from Bothell and I can bring him all that the International District has to offer. It's an ethnic food exhange program. ;-)

Forgotten coffee

Forgotten coffee by Corinne S.

A public toilet seems like a particularly interesting place to forget your coffee...