Baby Benjamin has arrived!!

And we are all home! Happy and healthy. :)

Benjamin James Winston Bloomfield was born at 6.51pm on December 27th weighing 8 lbs 6 oz at a length of ~19 inches. He came into the world very alert, looking around, and wailing from the moment his lungs filled with air! As you can see, we've been absolutely smitten since the moment we laid eyes on him.

December 27th was a very long day. We headed to the hospital at 7am and discovered I was already 5 cms dilated. I'd hoped this was indicitive of a rather quick and easy labour. Was I ever wrong!

Unfortunately, Ben was "sunnyside up" meaning his face was towards my abdomen rather than facing back. The result was many hours of back labour (both anaestesiologists on staff that day were already involved in major surgeries and couldn't administer my epidural until ~1pm that afternoon... I was 9.5 cms dilated by then!!) Following that were many hours of position changing in hopes of getting Ben to rotate naturally, but to no avail. Finally they sent us into the OR for a mid-forceps rotation and delivery, which would have quickly turned into an emergency c-section had there been any risk detected in the forceps attempt.

Anyway, it's all in the past now. Both Ben and I are recovering, and Nic is doing an amazing job as a husband and father. I had always expected he would, but even still I couldn't be more impressed.

Our happy little family of two is now a happy, tired little family of three. :)

Week 41: My water broke!

At 5am and now we're sitting here timing contractions. :)

Week 41: Boxing Day and still no baby!

But according to my calculations he'll arrive on December 28th. It will be interesting to see if I'm right.

In the meantime, here's me and the animals enjoying one of our last quiet and relaxing moments before baby arrives.

Week 40: Today is technically my due date!

And no sign of labour!

And I say "technically" since my OB actually has my due date penciled in as December 30th.

So, it looks like Benjamin is quite comfortable in his quarters. I'm beginning to wonder if he'll ever make an appearance! (Okay, logically I know he will, but I feel like I've been pregnant forever and there's no end in sight! Maybe I'll be like Joe Swanson's wife on Family Guy.)

Anyway, we're having a quiet Christmas at home since we're not really sure what may (or may not) happen, which I'm okay with since I've been fairly tired lately and not getting much sleep. We'll have some visitors each day, so that'll be nice.

Merry Christmas!

Week 40: Nursery is 100% done!

Here are a bunch of pics of the end result. I'm really happy how it's turned out. Good team work: I picked everything out and Nic did a great job putting everything together. :)

All we need is the occupant to check out of my uterus and into his nursery!

From the doorway:


The crib:

The change table and rocking chair:

The nursery door and towel rack:

And here's Cleo inspecting Benjamin's swing:

Week 40: Surprise!!!

On Sunday Nic and I had 6.30pm dinner plans with Andi and Vinny. When we arrived I was completely surprised to find all of my in-laws were there too. What a nice surprise it was, and we were doubly surprised by all of the presents for little Benjamin. It was very thoughtful of Andi to organize the dinner, and of everyone else for driving up from Toronto even though it was a little snowy out.

Week 40: Today's prenatal appointment

Everything is looking good as usual, so no complaints there. Baby's heartbeat is strong, my blood pressure is good, no sugar or proteins in my urine, and no swelling.

My OB ("the Newt") did an internal exam and found that the baby's head is engaged and very low. My cervix is ~50% effaced, but I'm not yet dilated.

I told him that my biological mom and sisters have had fairly rapid labours, so he suggests not straying too far from the hospital. Eeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

My OB is going by an estimated due date of December 30th (although my 18 week u/s estimates December 25th), so according to him we have another week and a half (and then some) to go before he'll consider induction.

I'm SO excited!!! I can hardly wait to meet this little baby!!!

Week 39: Can't sleep

Well, it's ~4am and here I am. Can't sleep... again. I woke up at 3am to pee and couldn't fall back to sleep. After ~45 mins of trying to fall back to sleep I realised defeat and got up.

I think the reality of having to deliver a baby is sinking in. It always seemed so "off in the distant" and now it's literally any day now. I'm sure everything will be fine, but I guess it's fear of the unknown that I find a bit daunting. And I suppose this is something all women pregnant for the first time (and possibly second, or third, etc.) feel.

Ah well, at least the cats are nocturnal, so I have a little company, oh, and the dog got up too and is sleeping behind my neck and shoulders atop the pillow I'm leaning against. At least someone can sleep.

Week 38: Today was my last day of work!

Hurrah!!! :)

Yet another milestone reached.

What a weird feeling it was packing up a small box of my personal items to take home knowing I won't be returning to work until January '07. Wow. That's a long way away.

I'll have one last chance to see my colleagues before the baby arrives though. Nic and I are going to the company Christmas party tomorrow night. It should be fun! Maybe I'll post a pic of me and my big belly in a dress.

Week 38: New belly pics

Well, here's a few more shots of my enormous belly:




I had another prenatal appointment today and everything is still looking good. The baby's heartbeat is strong, my blood pressure is good, sugars and protein levels are fine, and my weight has gone down a pound, so total weight gain at this point is 27 lbs.

I've been doing baby laundry all evening. For a person who isn't even here yet he sure has a lot! It'll be nice to have it done and out of the way.

Bags are almost all packed for the hospital. Baby's bag is done and I've started mine. I'll have to do a little shopping next week when my leave from work begins, but I could easily make do if I had to go to hospital early.

Pretty soon we'll be as ready as we can possibly be and it'll just be a waiting game!

Week 38: Panic sets in!

Not long to go now. No turning back. I'm having an anxiety moment. Not about the labour, but the magnitude of the responsibility and commitment that I'm about to make afterwards. I'm going to be someone's mom. There will be one person in this world who won't see me as "Leanne". I'm going to be "Mom". I hope I can do a good job.

Now I'm going to go cry.

Week 37: Getting closer!

One more week of work! Yippee! Looking forward to being off and having a little time to get some things done at home before the baby arrives.

My last prenatal appointment was good. The GBS swab came back negative, so no antibiotics for me. YAY!

Also bought a chair for the nursery. It's not much to look at but it rocks, reclines, is super roomy, and is very comfy. I even have a swaddled practice baby! :D