38 week update

We have a baby girl!! Madeline Ann O'Toole made her debut into society at 12:53 am on May 31, 2009! She weighed in at 6 lbs, 15 oz, with a whopping 22 inches of lucious good looks to grow on :) So, the short version of the story goes as follows: Saturday morning (may 30), I drive up to Alton, IL (about an hour north of Saint Louis) to participate in the swim portion of a triathlon relay team. I swam my 400 yards in record time (the fastest time of ANY pregnant participant -- haha!), and right after I got out of the pool (about 9am) I noticed that I had some warm liquid running down my legs (eewwww). After a brief pause, I quickly changed into some dry clothes and waddled back to my car. As I was driving back to Saint Louis, I called my doctor to let him know about my "situation." I headed home to shower and then we were off to the hospital with mom and Jennifer in tow. We made it to room 4 at MoBap around 11:30, and I was 2cm dilated. Contractions hurt. At 1:30 I got my epidural (Thank you, Jeff Yoder. You are my hero!). I dilated to 4cm by 4:00pm. My doctor ordered some pitocin. At the next exam, about 9:00, I doubled again to 8cm. Woo-Hoo! We thought her birthday was going to be that day for sure (we were wrong). Finally, after much deliberation with my cervix, I started to push at about 12:15am. After about 40 minutes of trying to push my brains out of my eyelids, a beautiful dark haired little girl emerged with her eyes wide open! Yipee!! Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Arriving to the Labor and Delivery ward:

Showing off my triathlon tattoo:Smiling assistants:She made it out safely: The O'Toole clan:
Grandma O'Toole, me, and Madeline:Granny Rowe, Jenn, and Madeline:Poppy Rowe and Madeline:Madeline after her first bath:
Sleeping assistants (it was a long day):

37 week update

Mom and Jen are here helping us get the baby's room ready and the rest of the house cleaned and more organized. They have been a ton of help! Thank goodness, because it seems like all I have been doing is sitting around retaining water :)

36 week update

Well, I'm actually closer to 37 weeks at this point, but I am still technically in the 36th week :) So, things are still going well... the usual uncomfortable feelings, going to the bathroom AT LEAST every 2 hours around the clock, and occasional ankle swelling. Luckily those are about the worst of my problems right now! My next doctor's appointment is tomorrow afternoon, and I will have my first internal exam to see how my cervix is doing. Ha-ha. I am looking forward to chilling out the next several days, since I have a week of vacation from work - yay!! I'll be gettting the baby's room organized, cleaning the rest of the house, and spending time with my mom and sister who are coming to town. Much, much better than going to work every day.

Ultrasound photos

I finally got some u/s photos scanned in at Sam's.

Here are some of my favorites!

10/23/2008 (6 wks): baby o'toole's first picture. Due date June 17, 2009 11/25/2008 (10 wks): profile shot

11/25/2008 (10 wks): holding her hands up over her face

12/22/2008 (14 wks): giving a thumbs up. she's already an optimist!

12/22/2008 (14 wks): measuring the crown-rump length. she's 9 cm long

01/26/2009 (20 wks): cool spine pics

01/26/2009 (20 wks): profile shot, and you can see her heart!

01/26/2009 (20 wks): trying to hide her face from the camera

01/26/2009 (20 wks): pretty good shot of the face and hands

01/26/2009 (20 wks): cool arm picture

02/23/2009 (24 wks): check out that kick, she's gonna be a soccer star

02/23/2009 (24 wks): arms are up and she's looking at her right hand

03/30/2009 (29 weeks): cool hand picture

03/30/2009 (29 wks): measuring the heart rate. 150 beats per minute

03/30/2009 (29 wks): profile shot. check out that eye socket

32 week update

Today I had my 32 week doctor's visit. Everything is copasetic at this point. I did "spill" some glucose into my urine. Hmmm... maybe having pancakes for every breakfast and dessert twice a day wasn't such a brilliant idea. Sorry baby! Ha-ha. I will try and do better for the next 8 weeks.

On another note, I just returned from the MARC (midwest anesthesia residents conference) in Chicago. I presented an interesting case report and enjoyed a nice hotel room all to myself. Ed stayed home and bonded with the dogs--I'm sure he gave them treats all day long to try and win their affection!

30 week update

Only 10 weeks to go! This was a good week. After my last doctor's appointment, I found out that I failed the 1 hour glucose test (that everyone takes), so I had to take the 3 hour glucose test. That was no fun--4 blood draws in one morning! Anyway, on Monday I found out that I passed that test. No gestational diabetes for me! But I will still try and eat better for the duration (donuts on Saturday morning don't count, do they?). Ed is almost done painting the nursery... just a few spots to touch up, and then we'll get the furniture all set up. Yay!

The baby shower!

Ed and I went to Springfield to visit for the weekend. We had a great time hanging out and relaxing with the family, eating lots of great food! The best part was on Saturday afternoon when I thought we were getting ready to go to the tea room for lunch...

Jennifer (my sister) threw me a surprise baby shower! It was so exciting, I had a super great time. I got to catch up with a bunch of friends that I don't get to see very often. Plus, Baby O'Toole got a whole bunch of great stuff, including some adorable new outfits to wear! I'll post some of the pictures once Jenn sends them to me (hint, hint).

Unfortunately, I did spend most of the weekend worrying that I have gestational diabetes. Happily, the doctor's office called today to let me know that I passed my 3 hour glucose test that I had taken on Friday! Yipee!