Baby Colleen is here!

Stats:
Birthday: 11/24/07
Time: 8:23 a.m.
Weight: 5 lbs. 13 oz.
Length: 17 3/4 inches

Apgar scores: 9 and 10

Nicknames: Peanut (nurses), Sweetness, Colleen the Queen.

Maren's water broke on Friday evening. She checked into the hospital at about 8 p.m. and Colleen was born 12 hours later.




Colleen at 1 day old.





Colleen was due 12/16/07, so she was about 3 weeks early. This means that she sleeps even more than a normal newborn, but she is pretty danged healthy otherwise (note the Apgar scores).

Yes, she is adorable, and we love her to bits.




Colleen (minutes old) and Momma Maren

obgyn visit 32 week

Everything is good as far as the doctor can tell. :)

Interesting fact: every week they measure the belly from pubic bone to fundus (top of uterus). Normal uteruses grow 1 cm a week, whether you are a tiny little thing or a whale to begin with. At 20 wks, most are 20 cm, and so at 32 wks, mine is 32 cm.

amazing, huh? :)

Colleen is wiggling around whenever I sit still. I think she's running out of room, since I don't feel her spinning as much. She's still facing outwards, although I hope she turns before the big day so that I don't have the dreaded "back labor."

That's all for now.
maren

brief update for week 32 (8 months)

Hi Everyone!

1) The glucose test came back normal. The "long" glucose test is worse than I thought: not only do you have to fast a total of 15 1/2 hours, but they draw blood FOUR TIMES during the "3 1/2 hour" test. Total sucko.

2) Baby Colleen gets the hiccups pretty regularly now. It's cute so far.

3) Things on the floor have never seemed so far away...

4)My energy level is pretty darned low. I could be working on the baby room, writing thank-you notes, or working on the picture collages for art on the baby room walls, but no, I am dozing on the couch while football plays on the TV.

5) Part of #4 is that I am still not sleeping especially well. My legs still tingle and feel sore at night which wakes me up. Bleh.

6) We are rolling in baby paraphenelia, especially clothes. Our friends and family are soooo generous. A big collective "THANK YOU" to all who have given us things. We are very, very grateful.

7) Finally, I am 90% done with an "Adams" pattern Christmas stocking for Colleen. It is HUGE...I can't remember if my stocking is so big or not. I used some eyelash yarn on the top and on Santa's beard to make it a little cooler. I'll post a picture when it's done.

That's all for now.

maren the whale

Gestational Diabetes test

Grumble-

My screening test for Gestational Diabetes came back high. I'm annoyed because I've been careful to keep my weight down and exercise like a good girl.

But now, I have to take a far more annoying test that involves fasting and three to four hours of sitting around quietly. I have one friend whose second test was negative and one whose test was positive. I watched that friend struggle with the GD diet, so I know I don't want to go down that road.

I'm just annoyed.

Baby shower in a few days! I need to focus on that...and schedule the long test for AFTER the cake, etc.

Colleen continues to be very active. I think she is situated with her head by my left hip and her feet under my right-side ribs. I judge this by the amount and kind of kicking I feel in those places. I also think she's facing out towards the world. I appreciate this since it means that she isn't punching any vital organs. Yet.

maren

getting ridiculous

It's not that I didn't see it coming, but geesh, this belly thing is getting silly. It enters the room before the rest of me. It sticks out of the bath water. It runs into things.

Plus, it threw my center of balance off so much that I strained my back yesterday. If I didn't waddle before, I sure do now.

WOU classes started today, so I began class by introducing myself and Miss Colleen Elizabeth. I'm due the week AFTER finals, so we are hoping that she won't disrupt things too much, but I have contingency plans in place, just in case.

I'm going to waddle off now. Moo.
m

BTW--updated registry items below, including a list of books from Amazon.com's baby registry are listed below!!!

Baby shower save the date

Hello!

Save the date Sunday, October 7 for the baby shower. More details to come. We are planning a segregated baby shower/bbq for the men.

Charles suggested that in order to celebrate new life, the men should go blow stuff up.

Please note that I have been updating the registries, and added a couple items directly from the web that weren't on the regular registry sites. See the "We're Registered!" post below.

Colleen is taking up so much room now, that I have given up being discreet about the belly, especially since it's really hot up here now. Charles gives me a humorously hard time about "The Belly," but he really likes the change in the boob department.

Colleen isn't kicking enough to cause me discomfort, so it's still cute. Charles got a "show" a few days ago, and said, quote, "Gee, lady. You should see a doctor about that." He also keeps suggesting we watch Alien. It's a good thing he's cute. :)

That's all for now.
m

We're Registered!

We started receiving gifts last week, so to keep things organized, here is where we are registered. We are adding to these lists all the time.

The rumor is that there will be a baby shower for us sometime in October in Monmouth.

Babies R Us:

http://www.toysrus.com/registry/index.jsp

under my name: Maren Anderson in Oregon

Burlington's Baby Depot:

http://www.burlingtoncoatfactory.com/Registry/Search.process?restartflow=t

under: ID # 10663369

**NEW as of 9-10-07**

Hotsling baby sling in Tokyo Stretch Cotton Sateen, size 5
http://www.hotslings.com/s.nl/it.A/id.418/.f?sc=2&category=56

Hooter Hider nursing cover

http://www.bebeaulait.com/catalog_product.php?iid=209


Costco baby monitor
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11201329&search=baby%20monitor&Mo=2&cm_re=1_en-_-Top_Left_Nav-_-Top_search&lang=en-US&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&Sp=S&N=0&whse=BC&Dx=mode+matchallpartial&Ntk=Text_Search&Dr=P_CatalogName:BC&Ne=4000000&D=baby%20monitor&Ntt=baby%20monitor&No=2&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Nty=1&topnav=&s=1

**NEW** as of 9/24/07
Amazon.com baby registry.
by searching for "Maren Anderson" at http://www.amazon.com/babyregistry


Plus, anyone who wants to contribute to the "maid service" fund, is welcome to send us checks.

In other news, we have learned that Peanut is a girl! Her name will be Colleen Elizabeth Anderson. She is healthy and kicking up a storm.

Maren is in the process of setting up the nursery which used to be the sewing/alpaca fiber room. She's got most of the non-baby stuff out of the room, but there is still a long way to go.

More later!
maren

kicking!

I felt Peanut kicking for the first time on Sunday! She kicked four times. I didn't feel her again until just now (Tuesday). She's still pretty little, so it's hard to pick out her movements from the cramps and gas.

I went to the OB yesterday, and he says that my ultrasound looked fine but that I do need to go to the one scheduled for Friday so that they can get the shots that Peanut was hiding from them last time.

Fun!

m

A girl!

Ultrasound from 7-6-07.

The ultrasound thinks it's a girl!

maren

Ultrasounds from May and June

Here are the first pictures of our baby, Peanut.

m