Past the Due Date

It's Friday afternoon, and we have nothing to report. Hopefully we will have some good baby news to share next week!

Love,
Mike and Jenny

It's D-Day.....Now what?

So here I am, at work, eating left over pizza at my desk on the Estimated Due date of Baby Olson. Since we found out, I have had a clock type ticker counting down the days until the due date and as of today, it is gone. The weekly updates on my pregnancy with tidbits of information came today with congratulations on your new bundle of joy--yet we sit here....still waiting. I've kind of prepared myself for the fact that I will be overdue, yet I can't help but feel kind of let down at the same time. Yes, I know that I still have 11 hours until midnight and anything can happen, but chances are it won't. I am just ready to get this over with. I'm tired of thinking about it, talking about it and waiting for it to happen. I've been getting contractions over the last few days and the baby is so low that if it dropped anymore I'd be walking around with it in my knees. Yet the baby is still comfortable in there, in its own little personal hot tub keeping the rest of us in suspense. Tomorrow, I start charging rent.

The statistical numbers for Due dates to me is like a huge dart board. It is said that 95% of babies are born within 2 weeks of their EDD. This is anywhere between 38 and 42 weeks from LMP (40 weeks full term). Yet only 14% of babies are actually born on their due dates. Furthermore, only 10% of babies are more than a week overdue (but with early ultrasound confirmation, this drops to 4%). I never took a statistics class in school so I don't know what all this could mean statistically, but common sense says it is a load of manure. People like numbers, so they set up a formula that is as useless as a politician. It tells you what you want to hear, yet tells you absolutely nothing.

People have circulated both my desk and Mike's inquiring on whether the baby is here yet. I even brought in donuts today because I figure I might as well feed the people who come by since I don't have a whole heck of a lot left to do. I guess I'd rather spend my day here at work waiting and doing a little something rather than being at home watching TV and watching the clock tick on by. By the way, I still have 4 donuts left if anyone wants one.........

Two Days to D-day......

.....and I'm still pregnant. I have to remind myself that this date is only an estimation and not an absolution. It's frustrating not knowing when exactly the end is in sight, but there is an end to this pregnancy in the next two weeks. Good Lord, I sure hope it isn't another two weeks. If I'm still pregnant next Monday, I'm not sure if I will even come to work. Countless people stopped at my desk this morning to comment on the fact I am still here. I was hoping that I could forget.

Mike did get a voice mail from Scott Jacobson this morning to let us know that Linda gave birth to a 7lb, 7oz baby boy this morning at 9am. Scott had told Mike on Friday that they were scheduling her induction today, but apparently Baby Jabobson had other ideas. (He showed up the day after his due date). Congratulations to Linda, Scott and new big brother, Tate. We are looking forward to seeing a picture of this new little guy!

Will the hairspray hold up?

Last summer, while Mike and I were in Europe we saw this ad for hairspray in many of the Oslo subway stations. We thought it was hilarious. I doubt my hair will look that good after giving birth, but maybe I can get Jen to send me some of this stuff overnight from Norway to see if it lives up to its claim.

Two weeks to D-day

No, I'm not planning an invasion of Normandy even though on some days I feel like a battle tank. I have two weeks until the estimated due date of Baby Olson and I am just about at the point where I am just done with this whole thing. It's not necessarily because I am overly uncomfortable, even though Mike can tell you that I can complain with the best of them. Mostly, I am getting a little tired of people's comments on my size, etc.

I know people mean well for the most part, but depending on the comment and who it comes from, it really taxes on your nerves. Sure I feel like a beached whale, but is it really necessary to point that out to me? I know I am huge being near term, but we are pretty certain that we are NOT having twins. Yes it happens to people, but don't feel inclined to tell me that every time you see me. Even if I just walk into a room, people sometimes comment on how miserable I look. Even at the baby shower at work on Monday, someone made a comment about my ability to fit into the chair reserved for me. I made a stupid retort about the need to get a fork-lift trying to gaff it off as being funny--but it bothered me a little. Most people will be polite in general about peoples' everyday appearance, but they can't seem to keep the tact when it comes to expectant mothers. I'm sure it could be worse and like I said people mean well, but eventually you run out of humor and patience with these things. It makes me appreciate the postive remarks from people that much more, because they are really a minority of the comments you get from people.

Monday, a bunch of co-workers threw us a baby shower at the office (see picture above). Even though Mike and I were aware of it, it was surprising how many people showed up and the amount of gifts we received. With both of our personalities being more on the reserved side and tend to stay out of the In-crowd, we are not really aware of how people perceive us in general and had really no idea what to expect. I, in particular, am really not comfortable being the center of attention so I was really happy that Mike was there. He seems to relax a little easier in these situations and in no time relished in the concept of the baby shower--and being the only man in the room, I was quite impressed. Afterwards, I got a few remarks about how neat it was for the other women to see him so excited and into this whole baby thing and a couple had said that their husbands didn't really show that much enthusiasm when they were expecting. Mike just continues to amaze me and I think he is going to be a wonderful Dad.

Maternity Leave Paperwork....

In preparation for my impending leave I have an abundance of forms to fill out for our HR Department. As I look at this stuff and some of the questions included, I can’t help but laugh and my mind fills with all kinds of sarcastic remarks that I could include in the paperwork.

FORM #1

Question #2
Is this condition due to a) Sickness b) accident c) Surgery
Response: Both a & b. Some may argue that we are crazy for having a baby thus indicating severe mental illness. Accident could be justifiable since it wasn’t completely planned nor prevented. Things happen.

Question #3
Describe how the injury incurred (what, how, where, when) or the nature and details of the sickness and when it began:
Response: Well, it was incurred the conventional way. I suppose on a Saturday night in May 2006, we got a little bored at home and one thing led to another. (Please refer to health education books for further explanation, if required). A few weeks later I missed my period and started to experience some nausea and later some swelling within the abdomen. This has progressed for the last nine months and further symptoms have included weight gain, swelling of the feet and ankles, increased appetite, absent mindedness, moodiness and strange movement within the abdominal cavity. The midwife has come to the conclusion that I am experiencing pregnancy.

Question #4
Is this disability related to your employment?
Response: Yes. Since both employee and spouse met and work at the same firm this would qualify as employment related.

FORM #2

Question #2
a) Diagnosis: Pregnancy
b) Objective Findings (including x-rays, EKGs, Psychiatric testing, laboratory data and clinical findings):
Response: Patient presented in June 2006 with symptoms suggestive of pregnancy. A urinalysis conducted concluded that the HCG levels were supportive of pregnancy. Numerous ultrasounds were conducted to verify the cell growth within the uterine cavity supporting the preliminary diagnosis of pregnancy. Eventually, evacuation of cells must occur resulting in several weeks of physical healing and a lifetime of mental strain. Further psychological evaluation indicates mood swings, weepiness and exhaustion of the patient resulting in mental strain of the patient’s spouse.

Question #3
Has patient ever been treated for the same or similar condition? If yes, state when and describe.
Response: Patient has experienced condition twice in the past. The first time occurred in 1996 and resulted in a 6 pound 6 ounce female. The following year, the patient presented with a 7 pound male.

Tomorrow night is a Full Moon.......

Tomorrow I hit my 37th week and the baby is now classified as full term even though I still have three weeks left until my due date. Yesterday, Mike and I thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and pack our "emergency" bags to be stowed in our trunks until the baby decides that it's ready to make its entrance into the world. I think we are pretty well set with everything we have to have and I got the car seat installed into the "family truckster" just in case. Now the waiting game begins.

Someone brought to my attention this morning that tomorrow night will be a full moon and they say that when there is a full moon the maternity wards are packed. I don't know how much truth there is to that, but it makes me a little nervous. I'm hoping for another two weeks.

Mike, the kids and I stayed home for christmas this year. While we were a little bummed to miss out of Grandma Olson's Lutefisk, we were kind of glad that we didn't have to make the long trip back to Iowa. Christmas weekend was low-key and last week it was fairly dead at the office so I was able to get a lot of organization done at work. I'm not done with all I want to accomplish, but I'm getting there.

This past weekend, we had a FULL house. My sister, Jill, and her family came up on Friday night and my sister, Amy, and her family came up Saturday morning for a late holiday celebration. Somehow, we managed to cram a total of 12 people in our house for a majority of the weekend and the 6 kids had a blast. I think we had more people in our house over the past weekend than we have had the entire year combined. We consumed mass quanities of food, stayed up late and had a pretty good weekend. We also got the added bonus of a visit from my good friend, Nanine, her husband Corey and their three kids on Friday. They had moved near Galvaston, Texas for the weather about 18 months ago and we hadn't seen them since. We were pretty exhausted yesterday, but was well worth it!