I’m breaking that whole "sleep while your baby is sleeping rule." I’m finding that a hard one to follow at times. More on that at a later date. I also hope to write a bit about labor and Ali’s birth. I guess when I get a chance. Until then, stay tuned. Also, thank you so much, to everyone, for all your supprt, words of encouragment, congratulations, exclamations (she is the cutest!), and general contact. So many of you live far away and it helps us immensely to feel connected.

On a side note: we had our first doctor’s appointment yesterday. We’ve decided to use the family practitioner Tony began seeing this year. The appointment went well and was pretty routine. We hovered and attempted comforting like the nervous newbies we are. Ali’s doing great, she weighed in at 6lbs. 15oz. Only three ounces less than her birth weight, so not much ground to make up at this point. My milk has been coming in over the last few days, and has not been anywhere near as bad as anticipated. Mostly I just feel like I got a couple bean bags, or rocks, or something strapped to the front of me. Breastfeeding is another topic I hope to touch on more soon.

So without further adieu, here are some photos of Ali coming home from the hospital. The non-bobblehead editions.

Both Ali and Ashley have been thoroughly checked over by their respective doctors and given the go-ahead for discharge. There are a few shots left to give and one more form to be signed in the presence of the resident notary (saying I’m the daddy!) and then I believe we are ready for the longest drive of my life. I promise you’ll get more details once we get home and settled, but for now, here’s Ali’s first day of life in pictures (chronologically arranged).

The criteria is:
Birth Date: 5 points / hour
Weight: 5 points / ounce
Length: 10 points / inch

Best Guess – Birth Date and Time:  Birth Instructor/Doula Extraordinaire Emily

Rank	Player Name	Guess	Difference	Points	From	Who I Am
1	Emily	Jul 3, 5:00 am	0 days, 1 hrs, 49 min	9.08	Lynnwood WA	birth class teacher
2	Ashley	Jul 2, 10:48 pm	0 days, 8 hrs, 1 min	40.08	Edmonds WA	Momma-to-be
3	Linda	Jul 4, 12:04 am	0 days, 17 hrs, 15 min	86.25	Clackamas OR	Friend
4	Cynthia	Jul 1, 10:00 am	-1 days, 20 hrs, 49 min	224.08	Milwaukie OR	friend
5	Mon	Jul 6, 12:00 am	2 days, 17 hrs, 11 min	325.92	Seattle WA	Old friend of the momma to be
6	Georgia Carroll	Jun 27, 10:28 pm	-5 days, 8 hrs, 21 min	641.75	Johnston IA	Aunt-to-be
7	Anthony	Jun 24, 8:27 pm	-8 days, 10 hrs, 22 min	1011.83	Edmonds WA	I’m the daddy!
8	Angela	Jun 16, 9:30 pm	-16 days, 9 hrs, 19 min	1966.58	Nashville TN

Best Guess – Weight:  Father-to-be Me! I knew she was a tiny one!

Rank	Player Name	Guess	Difference	Points	From	Who I Am
1	Anthony	6 lbs 11 ozs	-0 lbs 7 ozs	35.00	Edmonds WA	I’m the daddy!
2	Cynthia	7 lbs 12 ozs	0 lbs 10 ozs	50.00	Milwaukie OR	friend
3	Ashley	7 lbs 14 ozs	0 lbs 12 ozs	60.00	Edmonds WA	Momma-to-be
4	Georgia Carroll	7 lbs 15 ozs	0 lbs 13 ozs	65.00	Johnston IA	Aunt-to-be
5	Mon	8 lbs 2 ozs	1 lbs 0 ozs	80.00	Seattle WA	Old friend of the momma to be
6	Linda	8 lbs 4 ozs	1 lbs 2 ozs	90.00	Clackamas OR	Friend
7	Emily	8 lbs 6 ozs	1 lbs 4 ozs	100.00	Lynnwood WA	birth class teacher
8	Angela	8 lbs 7 ozs	1 lbs 5 ozs	105.00	Nashville TN

Best Guess – Length:  A Tie (Me, Ashley, Cynthia and Monica)

Rank	Player Name	Guess	Difference	Points	From	Who I Am
1	Anthony	19 inches	0 inches	0.00	Edmonds WA	I’m the daddy!
1	Ashley	19 inches	0 inches	0.00	Edmonds WA	Momma-to-be
1	Cynthia	19 inches	0 inches	0.00	Milwaukie OR	friend
1	Mon	19 inches	0 inches	0.00	Seattle WA	Old friend of the momma to be
5	Linda	20 inches	1 inch	10.00	Clackamas OR	Friend
5	Angela	20 inches	1 inch	10.00	Nashville TN
7	Emily	21 inches	2 inches	20.00	Lynnwood WA	birth class teacher
7	Georgia Carroll	21 inches	2 inches	20.00	Johnston IA	Aunt-to-be

And the winner is (drumroll)…..  Ashley! Mother’s intuition for the win!

Rank	Player Name	Guess	Difference	Points	From	Who I Am
1	Ashley	-	-	100.08	Edmonds WA	Momma-to-be
2	Emily	-	-	129.08	Lynnwood WA	birth class teacher
3	Linda	-	-	186.25	Clackamas OR	Friend
4	Cynthia	-	-	274.08	Milwaukie OR	friend
5	Mon	-	-	405.92	Seattle WA	Old friend of the momma to be
6	Georgia Carroll	-	-	726.75	Johnston IA	Aunt-to-be
7	Anthony	-	-	1046.83	Edmonds WA	I’m the daddy!
8	Angela	-	-	2081.58	Nashville TN

I am so in labor. It started at exactly 7:38pm last ngiht when I decided to began keeping track of the "cramping" I was having. For the next couple hours I had contraction every 8-10 minutes…but they were really short, like fifteen to thirty seconds. I slept from eleven or so until just after midnight, when I awoke and announced to Tony "I don’t think I’ll be getting much more sleep." From then the contractions seemed to space out but get longer and more intense. I played Tetris off and on for a few hours, had a snack, was pissed my internet wasn’t working, tried to lay down but my mind was racing, you know normal early labor stuff. I finally fell asleep again around four and woke up at six-fiftenn VERY happy to have slept and feeling pretty refreshed. I dozed for the next hour or so.

About seven-thirty I got up and had half of my normal two slices of peanut butter toast, milk and tea breakfast (one piece of toast with half a glass of milk). I sat in the bath for awhile. Made some phone calls (not in the bath). Tony and I went on a walk around ten or ten-thirty. We were supposed to have a doctor’s appt. at eleven, but I called and asked if we could just skip it and go into L&D when we were ready, which they said was fine. After our walk, we sat in the backyard for awhile, cooling our feet in the pool and watching all the bird-drama we have around here. Then we came in and I had a sandwich for lunch. I didn’t even think I was hungry, then realized I was starving! This whole time I’m having really varied contractions…sometimes six minutesd apart, sometimes twenty. They seemed shorter and less intense then the ones I’d had overnight. After lunch we watched some bonus features on the Project Runway DVD. I played more Tetris (seriously, it’s the perfect game to pass time and engage you enough to stop thinking!) while Tony called his Grandma Swalla for help filling out Ali’s baby book. While we were sitting there I was have forty-five second to minute-long contractions every six to seven minutes.

Then we went on another walk, this time to get some bubble tea. It’s really hot out today. It was supposed to be just over seventy, the coolest of this week but I’m sure it’s eighty plus. By this point Tony has me keeping track of my contractions, as well as the time elapsing between, on his ipod’s stopwatch. Unlike our previous walk, I maintained contractions while walking around. We then lounged in the pool again and read through the mail. Now it’s coming up on four o-clock and about twenty hours of consistent labor. We’re thinking we may go to the hospital within the next couple of hours….hopefully this stopwatch gives us the go ahead. Niether of us want to jump the gun.

I’m am so excited that Ali could be here tonight or maybe tomorrow morning (please, hopefully by then)! 

The first thing I hear this morning is "I just got two hours of sleep and they were great." I guess I should get used to that. Ashley was up most the night with intensifying and lengthening contractions. She just had one which timed about a minute and was variable in intensity. We’re firm subscribers to the 411 rule, so the immediate future is going to involve final packing and me trying to throw cookies together for the nurses. Exciting!

Well, tonight brought on some very short (<15 second) contractions spaced almost exactly 8 minutes apart. They persisted for a few hours until Ashley fell asleep. Certainly nothing major, but pretty exciting nonetheless and certainly a step in the right direction. Could this be the start of our adventure? We shall see. In keeping with the advice of our favorite birth instructor (Hi Emily!), we’re trying to keep in our normal routines through these first little contractions. Tonight that meant watching the end of Project Runway (Go Chloe!) and a pretty disappointing Next Food Network Star, even despite the addition of my boy Alton Brown. Somewhere in there I made a quick run for some pregnancy fuel and a full tank of automobile fuel, which is one less thing I’ve got to think about in the coming days. It should also be noted that Ashley informed me July 2 is Lindsay Lohan’s birthday. Maybe stay in there until the 3rd, Ali?

On a more serious note, I’d like to take a second to thank everyone who reads this and has given us reams of love and support over the past nine months (and beyond, I suppose). It’s pretty awesome that you all keep coming back to see what we have to say. We love to get everyone’s comments and poll votes and page views. It’s wonderful to know that we’re not alone in our excitement and anticipation of Alizabeth. Thank you all. We love you and treasure you.

And a public note to Ashley, who quite literally makes this child possible… Over the past nine months, you have constantly been putting our daughter’s (and often my) needs ahead of your own. Every day I am amazed at your persistence and steadfastness in the face of an ever-expanding figure and the intermittent losses in mental capacity (pregnant brain!). You are an amazing woman to have tackled this pregnancy head-on and not only nurtured a healthy baby, but reinvented and improved yourself (and me) in the process. I am forever thankful for your tenacity during the past nine months. I consider myself blessed to have you as a part of my life. I am in awe of what you have accomplished and am very much looking forward to what we will do in the future. I love you.

We now return to your regularly scheduled waiting….

So please don’t think we’ve some how forgotten you! It’s been borderline comical, the loved ones who think updating them has slipping our mind. Believe me, we wish we had something to tell as badly as you’d like to be told!

Today we vaccuumed out our respective cars (which was way more of a drama than it should have been. Blame no one carrying cash these days, Out-of-Service machines, Saturday morning traffic, and numerous car washes), had an impromptu business meeting, walked to the local teryaki joint for bubble teas, I napped while Tony did some stuff around the house, and are now about halfway through the second season of Project Runway. I finished Harry Potter this morning and that makes me sad. I miss it!

No contractions. No breaking of water. Just, what I assume, is typical late-late pregnancy fatigue, irritability, and inability to get/remain comfortable.  I have no idea how people go one, two or more weeks late. Please, God, don’t let me still be pregnant next weekend. Although I am sure, like most things, this is something you just have to take one day at a time.

As I’m sure is fairly obvious, today Ali is "due" to enter the world. I’m kind of thinking that’s not going to happen. Maybe tomorrow though. Maybe even EARLY tomorrow morning. Wouldn’t that be nice! Basically I’ve been feeling fine. Large and tired and cranky but okay other than that. I’ve slept really well the last two nights. Tony says I had a couple contractions last night and told him I’d been having them for a few hours but I don’t remember any of that (I tend to talk/have full conversations in my sleep).

This morning we took a hike-ish walk to and around a local county park. We did the same thing last Tuesday and had some major action later (although that may be more due to the stripping of membranes) so we shall see if we yield results from this latest endeavor. Either way, it was good to get out of the house, which I didn’t yesterday. The weather here has been very strange. Cloudy, overcast, threatening rain and yet very muggy. At the same time there are a lot of random sunbreaks so it really messes with you. Wednesday we went to the library and I was happy to find Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I am now almost done re-reading in anticipation for the release of the last book in the series. Also, it’s a really good distraction…nobody is pregnant at Hogwarts!

I hope this baby comes soon. After my mom gets off work late tonight she has a break until Thursday evening (thanks to fourth of July) and Billie will be back in the country Sunday. Plus, to be quite honest, I am just through. I have little desire to boast about how overdue my child was and I am fully aware that each day she stays in she grows that much bigger. If I’m hoping to push this girl out with no pain medication, I’d prefer she be nothing remotely resembling massive!

Immediately after writing that last post I went to the bathroom and found my mucous plug. No contractions yet. It could still be awhile but, at this point, progression is a good sign. I called my mom and then we made some lunch (Tony’s working from home today). I’m trying to remind myself that patience is a virtue! And that we’ve got grandmas on both sides hoping she’ll stay in a few days longer…

Last night I was really struggling. I thought I had cramps/contractions/whatever they are all night. More likely, is I woke up whenever I had them so it just seemed like that. Tony said that after I fell asleep but before he did they were about an hour apart for thirty or so seconds. The morning I thought there was no way I was going to not have her today. But, I got up just before nine…and haven’t had more than a twinge since (that’s coming up on four hours). I took a bath and finished reading the book I started yesterday. It’s gray and overcast today, a stark difference from yesterday’s sunny and eighties. I’m tired and bored and somewhat overwhlemed by how dirty the house suddenly seems. Perhaps a nesting urge? If only there was a burst ofenergy to accompany it!

As far as RSS feeds go, Tony said he’d make a post to explain it. I’m not sure if I understand…I think it means you don’t have to check back for updates, but I’m not sure how one is updated. I dunno. But rest assured, any news will be posted. We have no lives…