Why do the pretty girls always keep you waiting?

OK, you can end the drumroll. Maybe even throw in an anticlimactic horn going "waht-waaaaah".

It’s been a week now, and I’m happy to report that I’m still pregnant! We are continuing to take things one day at a time, and even a light breeze could blow us into the hospital… but for now Ava is still in her womb and I’m still waddling along.

The mini-crisis of last week has simmered down, mostly because Ava has been acing her tests in the doctor’s office. Amniotic fluid is still a concern. It was 6.1 as of yesterday, and evidently 6.0 is the cut-off to deliver. Oh, my babies just LOVE drama in pregnancy. It’s like “As the Womb Turns” in there.



I know “they’ say you should never compare your kids… but in this instance I can’t resist. I was looking back at my data from Alexander’s pregnancy and comparing it to this one. (Whoa… nerd alert. Who keeps pregnancy data??) Alexander had a biophysical at 36 weeks 2 days, Ava had one at 36 weeks 3 days. Let’s compare and contrast…



It should be noted that the vertical axis is scaled for hyperbole, but the data is still real. There’s a big difference between 8 lbs 3 oz (Alexander) and 6 lbs 8 oz (Ava). Ava is going to seem so tiny to us. Since my muscles has been set to “Gigantor Baby” for the last 19 months, my biggest fear is that I’ll fail to recalibrate my arms before picking Ava up. I’ll go to lift her out of the crib and she’ll end up airborne.

Alright. Back to gestating. We’ll keep you posted on Ava’s ETA. For now, all we can say is that it will be sometime between today and mid April.

Virtual Prozac

As we anxiously await the arrival of his little sister, please enjoy the following hastily assembled montage...

Go ahead and start the roll drumroll…

Ava may be making her grand entrance earlier than expected! I did develop very very super duper extra-mild pre-eclampsia, but that’s hardly worth mentioning. (Which is why I mentioned it. Hey, it’s not called “Our Succinct Blog’, people.) OK, I'll try. The short version of the story is that Ava’s amniotic fluid is pretty low (less than 3 AFI for any of you health data nerds out there).

The doctors debated for quite some time about whether they should deliver me today or wait. That’s an interesting conversation to listen to as you are strapped down to a table and half naked in the doctor's office. Of course, I’m not quite full term at 36 weeks and 2 days, so they weren’t sure if they should deliver immediately or let Ava cook a few more days. In the end, they sent me home with instructions to drink lots of water, do regular kick counts, and (they need a rubber stamp for this one and they can just thunk me on the forehead with it at every visit) to “take it easy”.

There will be more tests tomorrow, and every day until delivery, and probably lots more vague advice. All of this means I’ll definitely be having a repeat c-section – which I sort of expected anyway- sometime probably in the next seven days or so. Ava seems especially determined to come into this world via c-section because she is still breech. She must not want to mess up her hair on the way out or something.

More news as it happens…

Bub and the Professional Yartographer

Alexander's 18-month pictures turned out yartacular! These were taken by Kim Youra who specializes in yar. She does such an awesome job of capturing Bub's personality, and has the patience and energy required of her profession (and then some). If you look at her site, you might spot a six-month old picture of Alexander (and a large monkey) in the infant gallery and a one-year-old Alexander and smashed up birthday cake in the toddler gallery. Here is our guy at 1 1/2 years (or 18 months... or 78 weeks... or 547.5 days) old!














And here is Bub and Ava in their first photo shoot together. (sort of)

Get your motor running…

Now that the weather has gotten better, we splurged and got Alexander a tricycle! He was a big help in putting it together.



… eventually, he just took over entirely…



… and he loves riding it (with help) around the driveway.



He’s still a bit little for it but he has fun trying and he’ll probably be ready to really “open her up” this summer. Vroom-vroom!! (OK, more like “err-eet , err-eet, err-eet” - but to a kid that’s just a year and a half old, that’s just as exciting as vroom-vroom. )

Another Pregnant Pause (that joke never gets old)

Long time, no update. What can I say? I’ve been busy growing a human being… what have you been up to?

OK, truthfully, I’m just lazy. Here are some Cliff Notes on the latest news from each of us…

Alexander: Continues to be insanely cute, insanely smart, and a little bit insane. Enjoying his mornings in pre-pre-pre school. Surprised the teachers who didn’t know he knew his letters when he read a little wooden letter “b”, then turned it upside down and said “p”. His spoken vocabulary is growing every day, so before you know it he’ll actually be able to question our parenting skills with some well-reasoned arguments. He has a crush on his cute swim teacher. Current favorite hobby: “Art! Art! Art!”

Tim: Trying to get some projects done before Ava’s ETA… but his pregnant (and often demanding) wife isn’t affording him much studio time. Current favorite hobby: Making Alexander laugh so hard he goes into fits of ‘silent laughter’. Also, learning creative ways to make wife pipe-down.

Ava: ETA is in about 3 1/2 weeks. Hoping to enter the world this old fashioned way… but needs to turn herself around (or “de-breechify”) first. Also, mom needs to not get pre-eclampsia and a few other things. Grandparents are already doting as they painted her entire nursery without Ava having to lift a finger. Current favorite hobby: Perfecting the backstroke in amniotic fluid just as she runs out of room to backstroke…. but kicking mom’s bladder is fun too.

Steph: Pregnant (and often demanding). Swollen like a puffer fish. Still officially declaring this “The Best Pregnancy Ever in the History of Steph… EVER”. Current favorite hobby: Collecting pee (ok, not so much a favorite hobby but a doctor mandated one).

Cow and Bear: Continue to be both lovers and bitter rivals. Current Favorite Hobby: Shenanigans.