First few weeks - pictures

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Everyone is doing well, Stella is adjusting to life as a big sister - she kisses Angela on the head every chance she gets!!

Day One.

So I finally have a moment to sit down and talk about the last few days.

Neither Gian or I slept much Thursday night;  he got home late (well, early, since he's been on nights for a week) and then couldn't sleep, and I had such anxiety of course.  Five o'clock am came very quickly!!  My sister came with us to the hospital (which was hysterical, as she had to nestle herself between the two carseats in the back seat of the CRV), as she really wanted to be there for the actual birth.  Such a trooper at five am!!

We went up to maternity, Hol went to the waiting are (where she was able to watch cable, a real treat for her) and Gian and I got check in.  I have four lovely bracelets now for the occasion.  I waited with the fetal monitor on, which only built up the anxiety.  By the time they wheeled me into the OR I was a mess!!  But my doctor was awesome - I seriously love her and recommend her to everyone - and the anesthesiologist was very bubbly for an early morning spinal.  The spinal was quite different from the epidural, by the way.  I could still sort of "feel" which I couldn't do with the epidural.  VERY strange.  So up went the curtain around 8:15, incision at 8:20, and baby girl Delfini was born at 8:34.  Gian got to announce it, and we both looked at each other, like, Really?  no way it was a girl.

You can tell from the lack of name that we really thought we were having a boy, and hadn't put as much effort into the girl's name.

I was in recovery for a couple hours before getting moved to my room, which coincidentally was the same room I started my labor in with Stella two years ago.  How funny to come full circle.  In recovery, we started discussing names.  No decisions as yet, though.

My parents came by just after lunch with Stella;  how funny to see her around the room and to look at her new sister!  She just sort of kept looking at Angela with this awful frown on her face.

Still no name.

We had gone through various versions of relative names from Gian's side of the family, including the forerunner before the c-section, Giuseppina (which would have had Josie for a nickname or Pina, in Italy)... but that got chucked out after all, and we went back to the drawing board.  We kept two family names in the end - Angela, for Gian's dad (which would have been Arcangelo had we had a boy, as a middle name) and Lucia, for both Gian's mom and his Saint Day, Dec. 13.  We had originally shied away from names of relatives who were not grandparents and such (Angela is also the name of Gian's close cousin in Italy) but we really liked the connection to his father.

His father really liked it, too. :-)

So today was once again a blur of feeding, sleeping, changing a poopy diaper, and visiting with family.  One of the highlights of the day was napping around 4:30 - me, Angela, and our nephew Luigi, each in our own bed (Lou was on the pull-out chair). 

The other highlight was getting a photo of the entire family with Dr. Bhangoo, who delivered both of our children.  (photo to come, I promise!).  It worked out that she is on call this weekend, so she dropped by to say hi while my parents had Stella here.  I think it's really cool that the same doctor delivered both children, and that they have a picture with the first person they met in their lives.

Ready for Round 2?  You bet.

38 weeks.... T-7 days

35 Weeks

So one of the perks of the perinatal ultrasound is that now they can show me a 3D image (when baby cooperates).  They tried to do one the past two times, but Baby D's hand was always in front of the face, so they couldn't get a good picture.  Finally got one this time - you can even tell that he/she has HAIR (so weird since Stella had nothing at all).

32 Weeks - compare and contrast

So, I thought it would be fun to do a side-by-side of what I look like now, and what I looked like with Stella, at 32 weeks. It may or may not be useful in your voting process:

Now.....

... and then.

Now.....

and then.

So, is it just me, or do I look smaller now?  Could it be that I am carrying lower?  I don't know, maybe Baby Delite is going to be under 8 lbs.....  don't forget, Baby Delish got an extra two weeks in there (delivered at 42 weeks) while Baby Delite is coming early (scheduled c-section at 39 weeks)....

It's my hundredth post!

Wow, have I really logged on and shared both pregnancies and Baby D-Lish's life 99 times already?  It seems so surreal.

I have already fallen off the wagon;  I missed two weeks of posting!  It is not for lack of trying.  I have a To Do list from which  I have been checking tasks off;  but by the end of the day, when I usually sit down and write a few lines for the blog, upload photos, edit videos, etc ... lately I just don't have the energy to even do that.  I curl up in bed, read a few pages of the latest Book Club choice, and pass out.

I had another ultrasound and two non-stress tests since I last posted.  The non-stress test was probably the hardest thing for me to do, since it requires sitting still in the middle of the day, with no one else around, for about half an hour!!  Basically, it's exactly what they hooked me up to after I had the Pitocin with Stella - one monitor to check the heartbeat, another to check movement, both strapped around my belly.  I had forgotten my book for the first one, so I ended up skimming some trashy magazines (haven't done that in a while, it was kind of nice to catch up on gossip and best-dressed lists), but I made sure I had some literature for the second test.

Everything went fine at the ultrasound - Baby D-Lite is still developing well with the two-vessel cord.  I have one more ultrasound scheduled for the week of February break.

Despite my best efforts to schedule my appointments far in advance, next week will be my last appointment with "my" doctor until the week before the c-section.  She is too popular - I have been recommending her to everyone, so it is my own fault, I am sure! 

In other news, my sciatica seems to have disappeared over the past week.  When I went to the ultrasound, the tech told me that Baby D's head down now;  when the baby changed position, it very possibly relieved the pressure on my nerve.  Thank you Baby D!!  Step class won't be so painful anymore!!

OK, I'm pooped.  off to read "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" and pass out.

Gratuitous Stella videos

Oh, y'know you love 'em.  They're poorly edited, but I'm going for efficiency not beauty right now!

 

 Beach trip

 Birthday cake

Movin' and Shakin' - aka I can walk and DANCE!

Snow