Max goes to the library...

"Steve Holt!"
- Steve Holt, Arrested Development

Max has had a busy week. Sleeping all day and wanting to play with mommy and daddy all night. Who knew newborns just want to paaaaaaarty? ok who am I kidding. Its exhausting. But we are finding that fine balance between "lack of sleep" and a "fuctional amount" of sleep. We've got toothpicks holding our eyelids open right now.

Wednesday D threw the little man in the Ergo Baby Carrier (best thing ever!) and headed to the library on 24th street to get D's first ever SF library card. It was a nice quiet time, so I was able to get a few hours of shut eye. Well needed and deserved, if I do say so!

Max has been getting the hiccups very frequently. When he was in my belly he used to get them 2-3 times a day. They don't seem to bother him all that much, but he won't sleep when he's got them, so we've just been staying up with him waiting them out.

I haven't yet got my Mission Madre ass out on a walk with Max yet. My DR told me to rest up and limit my walking for 2 weeks. 2 weeks! I think I might have to venture out before that. D and I went "out" for lunch yesterday and took a drive to our fav burger joint, Tower Burger near West Portal. Max was good and only fussed a little on the car ride back. I'm just dying to test out the Quinny stroller (see one of my first posts). D got to use it when him and Grandma and Grandpa took Max for a walk in Mission Bay. I took this opportunity to get some shut eye. On this walk, Max saw a few firsts - Sea Lion... Birds... Homeless man.

God, I even hate to mention it, but I'm going to. It been 11 days and I'm back in my regular pre-pregnancy jeans. Go ahead and hate me. I'm in utter shock myself at how quick I shed the baby weight - but like a nurse told me right after I delivered "You're just all baby! That belly will be gone soon." I did wear a abdominal retention Ace bandage sort of thing - which may have helped things retract. Also, I religiously used Palmer's Cocoa Butter stretch mark cream, which did the trick. However I hear that its truely genetics which determine if you get stretch marks or not. My mother, for instance, got no stretch marks. Back in the day, one if her fav sayings to validate that she was my mother was to tell people, "I gave birth to her - want to see my stretch marks?" (this was used one time I didn't have my ID on me and we were going out for Happy Hour - needless to say, we were able to get our drank on. Ahhh the good old days.)

Auntie came over yesterday for a quick visit. It was her bday and we gave her "I love Auntie" and "I love Uncle" bibs. We talked a little bit about the "Cheap Ass Bitch" and her decision to possibly move back to SF. But I'm not sure she'd be moving back - as she's been in NY for a long time now. She went from Boston to NY - I think SF had a summer in between. I'd selfishly love to have her in SF. And I'm sure Max would love to see Auntie Morg all the time. She can teach him all about getting cheap or free shit. That's how us girls roll.

So, I wanted to mention a few baby items we love: (I'll review them in greater detail when time permits - I'm one hand typing now as Max is snoozing in my other arm)
- Kiddopotamus (fleece, and cotton) Swaddle Me - we got the yellow one as we weren't sure if we were having a boy or girl
- Giggle basics - cotton hat, cotton tee and a cotton Halo sleep sack with Swaddling goodness
- my Diaper Bag (LeSportSac w. Diaper changing pad and loads of room for baby gear)
- ErgoBaby carrier (Black with Infant insert )
- Graco Pack N Play - with bassinet and changing table - absolutely the BEST thing we registered for.
- Diaper Dekor garbage pail - totally eliminates stinky diapers. But will review agian at a later date when we start to get really smelly ones.
- Fisher Price Bouncer - not only is it an adorable bouncer, it works great.
- Burp cloths (thanks Mel!) Never knew how handy these would come in. Plus they are home made w crocheted edges and pretty adorable. Your mom should set up an ETSY.com store! Ok I will stop using the terms "adorable" as I think I've used it a million times in this post.

Ok Max is rustling....Mission Madre out!

24 hours of labor later...We welcome Baby Max!

Ok now that I reflect back and think about my good friend Andrea trying to tell me that I should try to have a natural (drug-free) labor - I am not going to listen to anything she says going forward - cause she's crazy! Ok, I "might" have been able to do it, had I not endured 17 hours of painful contractions.

So here's the fun rundown. D and I are having a nice meal (Salmon, yum) and he makes himself a Manhattan. "This is the last Manhattan I have until you go into labor" - little did he know that I was going to START having contractions not an hour later. Bam! I labored at home for a couple of hours (thank god for a trusty Contraction timer iPhone App - we are so tech savy!) Finally the contractions were long and strong enough that we decided to head into UCSF. We got to the hospital (After picking up Bootsie on the way) around 3 am Sunday morning. At this point, my contractions had slowed down a little - perhaps from the trip and movement of getting to the hospital. They checked me and determined that I was dilated enough (4cm) to admit me. Long story short, 17 hours from the onset of my contractions, I was only at 5cm. Luckily, we had a huge labor and delivery room with a view.
As a friend in NY said, "Only in SF would you get a view like this..."

Since I was not dilating fast, they administered Pitocin - at which point I yelled for drugs as this drug made the contractions only stronger and closer together. The strength of the contractions was making me ill and I worried that I would become dehydrated. Cue the "magic Sugar Water" drip. I The staff at UCSF was AMAZING. So attentive and thoughtful, the staff all had excellent bedside manner and made sure that I was comfortable.

The labor itself was only an hour long and was over before I knew it. And now we have this little charmer on our hands. Our friends and family have been so helpful and we are so thankful for all they have done for us. Will post some more later - I feel it is worth it to blog about Baby Items that we have loved so far - Our Stroller, car seat, Kiddopotamus swaddle wrap and plenty more I can't think about yet.

Here's our little prince charming

Who ever said those "old Wives" were wise?

The 'Blue Moon' has come and gone with little impact on us. I had a few contractions (Braxton Hicks perhaps?) but nothing alarming. I think that the baby has finally "dropped" as I am able to breath a little bit easier.

Today D and I went for a nice long walk (maybe a mile) in Pacifica. It was a pretty mild day and just slightly overcast. It was nice to not be in a hurry anywhere and just being able to take our time and stop and watch all the surfers at Vallemar.

Now we are on our way to Grandma "Bootsies"(Yes there is a great story behind Bootsie's nickname) to hang out and take it easy.

Tomorrow we will go for another walk, topped off with Spicy Food and then the "other" S :)
I just really hope that we don't go past our due date (7th) as the last thing I want is to be induced. We have a Dr's appt on Monday, so it will be interesting to see if I've dilated at all.

Once in a blue moon...

There has been much speculation about the lunar cycle in correlation to women going into labor. This coming Thursday is a full moon - and we are hoping that the old wives tale proves accurate. I've chatted with 2 medical practitioners, who have worked in Labor and Delivery and agreed that they used to see a larger # of women go into labor.

I found this article today, in regard to a Blue Moon. What a one liner our child can use in disputing a fact. "Right, and I was born on a blue moon. Oh wait I was!" Anyone that knows me, knows I am ALL about One Liners and Unanswerable Questions. Its just in my nature.

We had a great Christmas - had the In Laws staying with us and had a great time with them. Christmas Eve we drove around that day and saw the city. It was really nice as the streets were not packed with cars and people - as we avoided any of the major shopping areas! And I did finally make it up to Coit Tower - what a bad San Franciscan that I had never been up there before.

Christmas Eve we did a meal at our place and then opened gifts. To echo an earlier post - its just so great to spend time with family. We played lots of games (which I love!) - Farkle, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, Scene It, Wii Fit Plus (which E got us as a Christmas Gift). Christmas Day we had dinner down at Joe Joe and Claud. Again it was nice to see family - pork pressures aside. We did a White Elephant gift exchange which was fun as our family is so damn competitive.

I did walk away a victor with a huge bottle of Jameson Whiskey. The only one to walk away with the'only' booze present for the gift exchange - was the pregnant one.

So, I'm at the 38-39 week mark (Thursday I will be 39 weeks - C'mon Blue Moon!) I went to the Dr's for a check up yesterday. Aside from waiting an hour to be seen, it was an exciting yet disappointing appointment. The Dr walks in an asks the usual "How are things? Hows the baby?" and then he says - "So today we are going to sweep [the membranes]?" I wasn't mentally prepared for that - as he told me that we would talk about it the following week. For those of you who don't know, sweeping the membrane will increase the chances of going into labor (It's predicted that you will go into labor within 72 hours, give or take) Its a really simple procedure where the Dr simply makes a circular motion on a partial dilated cervix. However, in my case, I was not dilated at all. I am thinking this baby needs a formal invitation to join our family! Dear Baby Busch, Please join us for drinks and appetizers in celebration of your grand arrival!" Hopefully next week my body has done a little prep work and the doctor can try for a sweep again.

Tomorrow RnDnFinn are coming to visit us. I got to see them back in October (when I flew into SLC for one night). I'm excited to see how big Finn is getting. And of course, I'm excited to see RnD!

Ok Fingers crossed this lunar cycle mumbo jumbo works. Busch out. Little Busch out - literally :)

Whoever thought I'd be DIYing when I'm 9 months pregnant....

Yes why let a little thing like pregnancy slow me down? This week I made a few Onesies (who wants a plain white Onesie anyways?) The one thing that irked me was when I intially printed these out, I forgot to reverse the actual images - so I had a sheet full of backwards stuff. D said "Put the alphabet one on backwards - that way when the baby looks in the mirror, they'll learn the alphabet!" haha gotta love his spirit. I settled for only one Punk rock one, Minor Threat (Which was my fav Punk group back in the day) And Yes, I lifted the other logos/images from the good old www. One has to be resourceful in order to be creative.

I did drop a pretty penny on some wall decals from Blik - I got this really cool Bull and Bee one - which is much bigger than I'd imagine it would have been. I'm thinking we'll put it in our bathroom, as we have nothing on the walls as of yet.

Well anyhow, I'm still on "cruise control" (thats what the doctor told me!) patiently waiting for this little one to come - and certainly savoring my last quiet moments.

D has been just great - and spoiling me by making dinner every night. And I'm not talking about Hamburger Helper dinner. I'm talking about Steaks, Chicken stuffed with goodness and other pretty fun meals. I know I haven't asked for much before, but please god - let this continue after the baby is born.

We are getting ready for D's Mom and Dad to arrive. They are coming up from the OC to spend the holidays with us. I'm really looking forward to it. Sure, its fun to open presents and eat great holiday meals - but the thing I enjoy most about the holidays (Aside from not working!) is spending time with family. It can't be beat. Christmas Day we are going down to Palo Alto to have a family meal with 27+ people. It will be interesting to see how my "Cruise Control" works - perhaps we will have a little one before the end of the year? (C'mon Tax break baby!!)

Wishing you and yours a very Happy holiday! I'm going to go and get my wall decal on!