Quick bullet points

- The baby and I both had check-ups today. I weigh 11 pounds less than my first prenantal appointment :) and she has gained about 3 pounds in her 1st month of life (she`s at 10 pounds already!). We are both healthy and good in all other aspects.

-Please pray for us in the coming days as my husband was informed near the beginning of the month that if his numbers didn`t go up this month he would be let go. We haven`t heard anythng else since (like how his numbers are, etc), but have no indication that things are any better.

-One week from today we head to the nearest embassy to register the baby as a US citizen. (Please pray we don`t get lost, no complications, etc.)

-A week ago I sent in my presidential vote! (Here`s hoping the unreliable Mexican postal system gets it to the States in time!) A good friend just got cable, which includes CNN (in English) - I`ll be at her house on election night checking in :)

I am still here...

...just need to figure out how to hold a baby and type at the same time :) One handed is realllyyy slooooowww!
I finally bought material to use like a Moby Wrap, so maybe that will help.

I wanted to post a few pictures, then realized I am on that ancient computer sans USB port again. But she is 4 weeks old today and already so much bigger! That could possibly be connected to the never ending nursing we seem to be doing, even right this minute :) She loves to hold her head up (she started when she was only a few days old, and now can hold it up pretty steadily for extended periods already), recognizes me on sight, and is tracking us with her eyes. Everyone always comments on how alert she is. I have a tendency to hold her a lot (I don´t always, but a lot)... but I waited a long time for this sweet little girl and figure in 1 or 5 or 10 years I probably won´t look back and wish I did more housework and held her less.

I feel a little like it was forever ago now, but I still would like to share some about the birth and hospital and what not from my perspective.

I had gone to the Drs Tuesday am, and was 0 cm dilated. He was talking induction if I didn´t go into labor within a week. I started soon after having contractions of varying strengths and intervals. With 0 cm on the brain and hoping to go naturally, I made a point of walking little laps the rest of the day. We made sure everything was ready to go to the hospital that afternoon. Wednesday I again had inconsistent contractions. Weather was yucky, so I walked in the house and up and down the stairs. I´d had other days with contractions lasting a few hours and then disappearing, so I wasn´t reading too much into things. They were only rarely of an intensity to make me actually uncomfortable.

We got to bed around midnight Wednesday. At 1am I got up and headed for the bathroom. I mean, thats what I´d been doing every other time I woke up for the last nine months. It took me a minute or 2 to realize I hadn´t woken because I needed to pee, but because of a contraction. They started out every 7-8 minutes. They shortly were coming every 6, and I asked my husband to start timing how long they were...65-75secs. By 2:30, they were every 5min, and we called the Dr. He, thinking 1st labor, told us to hang tight and call back when we saw blood. By 3:30 they were every 3 min and lasting more like 90 secs. I convinced my husband that the Dr wasn´t expecting things to move so fast and to call even though there was no sign of blood. The Dr wisely :) agreed to meet us at the hospital. We arrived around 4am.

I had gotten the distinct impression that epidurals weren´t done here, and didn´t think I wanted one anyways. But when the Dr started talking induction, he mentioned the possibility of an epidural. And I got to tell you that around 3am, I started changing my mind about having one. I know it was great that my labor moved along so fast, but it was intense! I was going from nothing (remember 0cm?) to pushing in a few short hours. When the Dr came in to examine me, I felt better hearing him say something about what strong and fast contractions I was having (so it wasn´t just in my head). They never actually asked me, they just went ahead and worked on getting me that epidural. I think it happened around 5ish or just before, and it was a wonderful feeling :)

I was just thinking maybe I felt the urge to push when they realized I wasn´t feeling much and should cue me in. I started pushing at 5:15, and my baby girl was born at 5:30.

My husband was at my side every step of the way, and was a wonderful support. I don´t totally understand how his presence made such a difference, but it did make things so much better when he was with me for a contraction. I don´t know how I would have made it thru the entry procedures, during the strongest/longest contractions, without him there. And it was obviously absolutely wonderful to share the moment of our daughter´s birth with him. He still talks about it. A million thank yous to the person who made it possible for him to be with me.

Some of the words that describe our hospital experience...
beautiful
quiet
friendly
good service
good food
comfortable

Everyone who came to visit us was impressed. And I got a few comments about how much better this type of experience was than being in a room with 15-20 other woman giving birth (can you imagine??!! and without a husband at your side!?!)

Oops, out of time. Writing one handed takes ages :)

Hope to be back on soon!

What up Gs

Here's some more pictures.

Pictures

We just couldn`t wait to share - I`m here in the cyber for about 5 minutes :) Enjoy!

Oh, and offical measurements are 3Kilos 270grams and 51 cm. I`ll let you all do the conversions.

ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!

GUESS WHAT EVERYBODY

This is Mary, Sheila's sister. Hi, how's everyone doin? Good. Good.

Now I'm sure you realize the only reason that someone other than Sheila would be posting on her blog is because she's a little busy WITH A NEWBORN BABY GIRL!!!!

She called at 4am today to say she was having contractions 3 minutes apart and they were on their way out the door to the hospital. She told my mom "I gotta go, here comes another contraction" My mom said Yep, that's real labor.

Next we heard from her was around 8:30 this morning. She had a short "easy" (I mean labor is labor, but relatively speaking, you know) 4 1/2 hour labor with about 15 minutes of pushing. (For the record my labor was like 14hrs w 2 1/2 HOURS of pushing. Not that I'm not happy for her. But she didn't have to show off like that. I'm just saying.)


Now for the important stuff.

Keep in mind we are depending on a brand-spanking-new mother for these details (which include kilo to pound weight conversion) so they may be edited later, but:



Katya Alana
born 5:30am (ish, and I don't know what time zone that is)
7lbs 1oz.



Sorry, no length (I told you, new mommy details). "FB" claims Katya looks like Sheila (those determined Carpenter genes) but Sheila hadn't seen enough of the baby to give her expert opinion on the matter.

My mom's going to meet the baby tomorrow or Saturday and I'm sending my camera so I tentatively promise pictures in a week or 2.

Happy birthday to Danny and Samuel, Danny always gets the best birthday presents....


Hasta la vista. Bay-bay.

A Voting Link

I´ve seen some varying thoughts on others´ blogs about how they might vote in the upcoming election. But it was this post that made the biggest impression on me. I also found the John Piper link in the post interesting.

Thoughts?

A collection of thoughts

So, I am currently listening to the drumming of a ritualistic dance/celebration for an idol that is taking place in front of the Catholic church a couple of buildings away from me. The dancers are dressed in traditional, indigenous outfits, very bright. Interesting, huh?

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In other news, we were back to the Dr´s this morning. Things looked pretty good, with me dropping a pound and the baby apparently gaining a little over a pound (estimated weight: 7lbs 11oz - which is actually my birth weight). The Dr did another internal exam, and it sounds like I hadn´t dilated at all at that point. When all was said and done, he announced that he´d like to induce next week (Wednesday, Oct 1st) if I haven´t already gone into labor. Something to do with the rate at which the placenta is ageing. I am not necessarily a huge induction fan, but considering the many levels at which I am out of my element right now (country, language, first baby....), I don´t really feel up to disagreeing with his strong personality and opinions. I am just happy he´s talking induction rather than C-section, and actually said he thinks I´m a better candidate for a normal labor than for surgery.

Both my husband and I are hoping and praying for labor to start on it´s own before next Wednesday - and in fact, it may have already. I have been having contractions at varying levels of strength and varying intervals all day. Actually, I had come last night, too. So we´ll see what happens. Obviously, any and all prayers are appreciated at this point!

One way or another, my little girl will be here in the next week. The thing that is funny to me about that is that those ticker countdowns I put on the blog just might be right on :)

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My 3rd and final shower was Saturday. Actually, I feel like I had 2 showers on Saturday, because that morning a package arrived from a very good friend who appears to have had fun shopping for us :) But the official one was thrown by my in-laws, who made me feel very loved by all the thought, planning, work, and money that went into making it something special. Several guests we thought were for sure never showed (including, for example, a cousin) - that was the only downer. I received a variety of really nice gifts, ranging from very practical (diapers, medicine dropper, nose suction cleaner thing), to fun (hairbands!), to special (handmade by the giver sweaters), to cozy (fleece baby blankets), to possible winner of best gift (a hardcover/pages children´s bilingual Bible!).

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Don´t know how many of you have followed the AIG bank woes, but that is the parent company that my husband is working for. He already was feeling enough pressure of late to feel his job is at risk. We´re obviously feeling that pressure even more now. Still waiting to see what God has in store on the job front, and hoping it is something new and better just around the corner...

Baby Update and More Pictures (not of me...)

So, had another Dr´s appointment Thursday morning. I actually gained 2lbs in the last 2 weeks. Still trying to figure that one out, as I think I did everything the same as always, and last appointment I had lost weight. Basically, I´m saying I don´t get how weight works when you are pregnant :)

Considering that at our last appointment, my little daughter had put on 2lbs in 3 weeks and totaled 5lbs 12oz (by ultrasound estimates, over a month before the due date), you can imagine that I was a wee bit nervous about her growth rate quickly putting her into the huge category. But this time she appears to have only gained 13oz in 2 weeks, putting her at an estimated total of 6lb 9oz. That´s not so bad. Of course, she could be in there for another month or so...

Everything the Dr checked looked good, healthy, normal. Amniotic fluid, placenta, baby´s heart rate, my blood pressure, etc.

He also did an internal exam. Now, Americans most likely read that and figure I got a run down on things like centimeters dilated and percentage of effacement. I did not get any of that information. I did get comments like, ¨this is a very good pelvis¨ and ¨the cervix is smooth, which is to say it should open easily¨.

I´m not sure if I have mentioned here how they seem to be much more C-section prone here in Mexico. As in, if there is anything out of the ordinary, they opt for the C-section rather than work with it. So at today´s appointment, everything the Dr checked, it was like he was looking for something out of the ordinary that would warrant scheduling surgery. Thanks be to God, he didn´t find anything. And told us he feels about 95% sure that I am headed for a normal delivery. Considering how surgery-happy they seem to be here, I am very happy to have been given that high of a chance to let things happen naturally.

Assuming I don´t go into delivery before then, the next appointment is in 10 days. The Dr seems to think I´ll make it that long, although I am not really sure how well a Dr can predict anything at this stage of the game. In the meantime, I am trying not to overanalyze every little change or oddity I feel in my body. I am not desparately waiting for labor to start in the sense that I can´t stand being pregnant any more (I´ve actually heard myself tell a couple of people that I feel great, if you can imagine saying that at 8.5 months pregnant). But I don´t like the unknown of it, the waiting game - and in that sense, I´m hoping for sooner rather than later.

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On to pictures. I promised Carole I´d try to get these up pre-labor, so here we go. The first picture is a typical view you might happen upon here, and the 2nd is the view from my in-laws house. In the 2nd you can see how we´ve had an unusual amount of rain the last month or so - it isn´t usually so green.




These next couple are the views from my house. As I am sure you can imagine, I am looking foward to the day that the construction is done, and keep (maybe foolishly) hoping that they are going to do something with that triangle of dirt in front of my house. But the mountains are forever beautiful, regardless.




And finally, here are a few pics of my house. The first shows it from the outside - the right-hand half is us. They like to build rows of houses or at least build a couple attached at a time. Then you see my living room and kitchen (the view of one is taken from the other and vice-versa) - which is what you see the second you walk in the front door. The front door, by the way, is the one by the stairs and living room furniture. The door in the kitchen opens to our walled in alley/patio like space where my laundry is. I included one of the kitchen that shows off my ´cabinets´. Houses here don´t come with built in cabinetry - everyone has to come up with their own solution. My is on wheels. What doesn´t fit in there is on a table by/under the stairs.







I was gonna post a few others, but the computer I am on today apparently is quite old, as it does not have a USB port. Maybe next time. But I figured better to post something than nothing.

Just to fill out your sense of the house...The stairs lead up to our bedroom and a 2nd bath. That´s all there is up there. We also have 2 more rooms (meant to be bedrooms) on the 1st floor - one in front and one in back. All 3 bedrooms are pretty small, as you´ll see when I get a chance to post a few more pics. I also have a couple of new ones that I took of the view of the mountains from my house when the lighting was better.

Oh, and to clarify - I keep using the phrase ´my house´- but we rent it.

Can you tell I´m trying to catch up on things I´ve wanted to post before the baby comes? I have no clue what kind of cyber time I will be able to finagle with a newborn! It really will depend alot on her personality and sleeping/feeding routines (since cybers are only open certain times of day...).

My stomach is getting bigger and bigger...

Just in case you thought, considering that I have not been gaining a lot of weight, that my stomach is not getting bigger, I figured I had better post a few more pictures. The first 2 are from about 7.5 months, the 2nd two are from today (I am exactly 37 weeks today...officially full term).







On another note, the showers went well this past weekend. Satuday's was small, I think about 8 people. Unfortunately, I did not get to meet any Americans after all. It turns out that 2-3 Americans are actually 2-3 forgeiners. I did get to meet one of them - from Brazil. Then one, who is actually American, wasn't able to come because of a sick child (with some strange viral thing she didn't want to risk passing to me). I'm still unclear on if there is another American. But regardless, they were all very nice and fun and generous. And by generous, I mean they gave out of the little they have.

Sunday's was also fun, a good time of fellowship with the women of the church - who still aren't really sure I can understand them. I had to reassure them several times that I understood just about everything anyone said. But there was a lot of laughing and generally a good time had by all. And they also were generous in the same sense.

In overview, I was given a number of outfits, although unfortunately close to half of them are newborn size and won't fit this growing girl long, I am afraid. I also received several blankets, some bottles (more than I feel like I will use, but oh well), diapers, wipes, baby soap and oil, and baby cologne.

The last shower isn't till a week from Saturday, being given by my in-laws.

And now, I will leave you with this incredible piece of trivia...

Historically, the woman on record as having had the most children was Russian. Between the years 1725 and 1765, she was pregnant 27 times and had 69 children!!!

Thank you`s, FYI, and Showers

Wanted to make sure I thanked all of you who
a) have been commenting all along :) and
b) recently came out of the woodwork :)

I feel much better about the whole `void` thing, and remotivated to post regularly. Plus, it was so good to hear from a couple of people I hadn`t in a while.

I`m pretty sure there are still more of you out there who check in and never say anything - would love to hear from you too!!

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After one of my girlfriends `threatened` to start calling me every 2-3 days to make sure she knew when I give birth, I realized I should clue you all in to my plan to have someone (prolly my sister) post here on the blog for me (an most likely on Facebook, too) when the baby is born with the essential details. I have too many friends spread out all over to come up with any better way of making sure you all hear the happy news.

And we do have a hospital - I can`t remember if I have officially said that here. It is a small, private hospital that opened in 2000. My husband is allowed in with me for the delivery, as well as to spend the night in my private room (he gets a very nice leather couch...). It is clean, close to home, and a reasonable price (as far as private hospitals go...).

The Dr I have been seeing all along for prenatal care will be my attending physician for the birth, so there will be a familiar face, and he will be familiar with my history, etc.

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The first of 3 baby showers is tomorrow (Saturday), and another is on Sunday. Tomorrow`s shower, the first, was actually the last to be planned, and was a bit unexpected. It will be largely attended by people I have never met before - a testament to the culture here understanding the need to help others out, as well as never turning down a chance to socialize. The fun part is there will be 2-3 other American women that I have never met there - it should be interesting and helpful to connect to others like me.

Sunday`s shower is being put on by the women at church and will be help immediately following the service.

I`m looking foward to the chance to hang out with all these ladies, as well as begin to wrap my brain around what I do/don`t have and/or need. Our budget is simply too tight to have spent any money on anything until seeing what we are given.

Another neat note of divine provision...
One day last week I took inventory of what clothing I have been given so far. It isn`t much. I spent the next day or 2 trying NOT to wonder how on earth we will ever affort buying clothes for our little girl. On Saturday, one of my good friends informed me that her mother-in-law, who barely knows me (I remember interacting at my friend`s wedding...?), was probably sending me a box or so of baby clothes - many like new or with the tags still on. Even if the box never shows, it was a great reminder of how God can use very unexpected sources to provide for us.