First real contractions

They came last night (Friday)--two that were less intense, 20 mintues apart, and then one really long (nearly a minute in duration), painful one six minutes later. I was in a state of disbelief after the third one: Peanut, didn't you know that we have this thing scheduled?? I also started to panic a bit about all of the things that I have not finished for work, so the evening turned into a flurry of email/document-creating activity and packing for the hospital.

Of course, that third contraction was the last one, and there have been no serious ones today. False alarm. Dr. Baer doesn't want me to come in unless the contractions are regular. So we will relax and enjoy one more day of pre-baby life. Time for a silly movie. :)

Thirty-eight weeks and the name is set!

We are so, so close now: the c-section is a week from Wednesday. I cannot wait to meet this little girl for real! She is still kicking and thrashing about like crazy, especially in the early evening and when Mom takes Tums.

Finding the appropriate middle name to go with Amalie was more excruciating than was deciding on the first name. I'll spare everyone the details, but suffice it to say that Jon and I 1) are poor decsion makers, and 2) have fairly different tastes in names. Last night we planted ourselves in front of our laptops (again) and swore we would come away with our choice before the night was over. I thought we would tear our hair out by the time we were done. In the end it was Jon who saved the day. He went back to our family trees and found a name that was not only highly utilized by my Danish ancestors (he counted 13 occurrences between 1530 and 1820!), but also held a host of profound meanings and ties with more current family members. And it doesn't sound too bad to boot.

The name is Maren (pronounced "mah-ren"), and it means "wished-for child". It is also an oceanic name, which pays tribute to Jon's seafaring Irish roots. Finally, it is a derivative of Mary and Marie. Mary was my maternal grandmother, and Marie is Jon's mom's middle name. How could we ask for more?

Amalie Maren Driscoll, we're ready for you now!

From Mareike

We have recieved many, many wonderful gifts over the past few months. This is one of them. I thought it would be a good one to share with everyone as the time draws near.

And she shall be called Amalie (37 weeks)

Happy Full Term, Peanut! You've done it!

I would be thrilled if she would decide to come today--Jon and I are both ready to have her here. Unless she initiates the process, we're looking at 13 more days: she is scheduled to be delivered at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17.

The name game continues. However, in part out of a desire that our child not be referred to as a legume postpartum, we have decided upon Amalie for the first name. Jon found the name when he was researching our family trees; Amalie was the wife of one of my German ancestors (on my mom's Brunkhardt side). It means "eager"and "hard worker". I am more fond of the name as a first name than Jon is, so expect Jon to hold more sway in the choice of a middle name. The frontrunner is Tora, which means "thunder" in Norse. (Expect the other options to be relatively loud and raucous as well.)

Peanut's Aunt Merritt (Jon's sister) called us on Monday to inform us that her children, Skylar and Riley, are sick with Fifth disease (a viral rash). We were exposed to both of them during their incubation period, so she was concerned that Peanut was in danger. However, a quick blood test revealed that I am immune (must have gotten sick with it at some point in my lifetime), so all is well. Fifth disease is extremely dangerous in the first half of pregnancy--it can easily kill a fetus--but it is much less dangerous later in development. Still, I am relieved that we will not have to worry about it.

Time for serious preparations

We are at t minus 2.5 weeks until Peanut's c-section. Classes are over, grading is done, and my remaining administrative tasks (associated with professional connections, not school) are only filling a part-time slot in my life right now. My semester-long sabbatical has officially begun.

Finally it is time to enter into Babyland!

We are well outfitted for Peanut's arrival already, but everything is in disarray, and we really need to do an inventory to see what we are missing. We have begun to tackle the nursery, which had become random storage. We removed everything and cleaned it thoroughly. Lizz's fabulous murals are in good shape, so all we needed to do was gently clean the walls. Furniture-wise, we added a couple of storage pieces to what we already had, so that we could accommodate cloth diapers and diapering supplies, toys, and some clothing.





Both of our carseats are hand-me-downs; one is new enough that we can still use it, but the other one may be past the safe six-year mark. Earlier this week we pulled the seats apart to clean them. And of course when any soft, ergonomic surface appears on the floor, guess who has to give it a try...

The home stretch (35 weeks)

I would never have imagined such a smooth pregnancy for Peanut; every week she aces her biophysical exam, looks fabulous on the ultrasound, and impresses Sue (the ultrasound tech) and Dr. Baer. The polyhydramnious has subsided. Last week Sue announced that Peanut was head down and had dropped. This latter fact does not have any bearing on Peanut's delivery, as our little one will be arriving via trapdoor; however, it is reassuring.

On the other hand, this has been a difficult pregnancy for me physically. The hiatal hernia makes me feel like I have been punched in the stomach all the time, so I am out of breath and almost never hungry. There is also the usual pregnancy stuff: sore hips, acid reflux, sleeplessness, and other common things that I won't mention. Every week I say to Dr. Baer, "She looks done enough to me--let's get her out". And he laughs.

We bought a fetal heart monitor (not a Doppler or an ultrasound, just an amplifier), because the days when Peanut does not move much throw me into anxious fits. It was around this time with Liam that my blood pressure started to really spike, my body started to swell, and my former OB started to talk about inducing labor. I recall that time as my "naive period", when I could have done something to save Liam if I had known what was to transpire. And guess what: my feet have officially started swelling. I think it is time to break out Jon's blood pressure cuff and stethoscope.

A new cousin for Peanut

My sister Lisa and I discovered we were pregnant about eight weeks apart from each other...and both of us with a girl. As you can probably imagine, Grandpa and Grandma Larsen are beside themselves with excitement at the prospect of having TWO new grandchildren at once.

Faith Randall Carlson entered the world in the early afternoon of April 28, 2009. She weighed an impressive 8 lbs., 11 oz. She is a miracle in and of herself, because she was conceived when her father Kevin was in kidney failure and waiting for a donor kidney. Her middle name, Randall, is an homage to Kevin's brother Randy, who provided Kevin with one of his kidneys last December.

Faith with Lisa, settled in for a Mother's Day nap.

Faith and Kevin sharing a moment together at home.

Welcome, Faith! We hope to introduce you to your new playmate in five weeks...or sooner.